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INDIAN  GAMES 


AN 


HISTORICAL  RESEARCH. 


BY  ANDREW  McFARLAND  DAYIS. 


[From  the  Bulletin  of  the  Essex  Institute,  Vol.  XVII,  page  89.] 


PRINTED  AT  THE  SALEM  PRESS. 

SALEM,  MASS. 

1886. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/indiangameshisto00davi_0 


q'lb.U 

J)^ 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


BY  ANDREW  MCFARLAND  DAVIS. 


"There  are,”  says  Father  Brebeuf  in  his  account  of 
what  was  worthy  of  note  among  the  Ilurons  in  1636,1 
"three  kinds  of  games  particularly  in  vogue  with  this  peo- 
ple ; cross,  platter,  and  straw.  The  first  two  are,  they 
say,  supreme  for  the  health.  Does  not  that  excite  our 
pity?  Lo,  a poor  sick  person,  whose  body  is  hot  with 
fever,  whose  soul  foresees  the  end  of  his  days,  and  a mis- 
erable sorcerer  orders  for  him  as  the  only  cooling  remedy, 
\ a game  of  cross.  Sometimes  it  is  the  invalid  himself  who 
may  perhaps  have  dreamed  that  he  will  die  unless  the 
country  engages  in  a game  of  cross  for  his  health.  Then, 
if  he  has  ever  so  little  credit,  you  will  see  those  who  can 
best  play  at  cross  arrayed,  village  against  village,  in  a 
beautiful  field,  and  to  increase  the  excitement,  they  will 
wager  with  each  other  their  beaver  skins  and  their  neck- 


^ © 

^ laces  of  porcelain  beads. 


"Sometimes  also  one  of  their  medicine  men  will  say 
that  the  whole  country  is  ill  and  that  a game  of  cross  is 


vk 

Jf 


1 Relatious  des  J^suites,  Quebec,  1858,  p.  113. 


(3) 


4 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


needed  for  its  cure.  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  more.  The 
news  incontinently  spreads  everywhere.  The  chiefs  in 
each  village  give  orders  that  all  the  youths  shall  do  their 
duty  in  this  respect,  otherwise  some  great  calamity  will 
overtake  the  country.” 


LACROSSE. 

In  lb67,  Nicolas  Perrot,  then  acting  as  agent  of  the 
French  government,  was  received  near  Saut  Sainte  Marie 
with  stately  courtesy  and  formal  ceremony  by  the  Miamis, 
to  whom  he  was  deputed.  A few  days  after  his  arrival, 
the  chief  of  that  nation  gave  him,  as  an  entertainment,  a 
game  of  laciosse.2  More  than  two  thousand  persons 
assembled  in  a great  plain  each  with  his  cross.  A wooden 
ball  about  the  size  of  a tennis  ball  was  tossed  in  the  air. 
From  that  moment  there  was  a constant  movement  of  all 
these  crosses  which  made  a noise  like  that  of  arms  which 
one  hears  during  a battle.  Half  the  savages  tried  to  send 
the  ball  to  the  northwest  the  length  of  the  field,  the 
others  wished  to  make  it  go  to  the  southeast.  The  con- 
test which  lasted  for  a half  hour  was  doubtful.” 

In  1763,  an  army  of  confederate  nations,  inspired  by 
the  subtle  influence  of  Pontiac’s  master  mind,  formed  the 
purpose  of  seizing  the  scattered  forts  held  by  the  English 
along  the  northwestern  frontier.  On  the  fourth  day  of 
June  of  that  year,  the  garrison  at  Fort  Michilimackinac, 
unconscious  of  their  impending  fate,  thoughtlessly  lolled 
at  the  foot  of  the  palisade  and  whiled  away  the  day  in 
watching  the  swaying  fortunes  of  a game  of  ball  which 
was  being  played  by  some  Indians  in  front  of  the  stock- 
ade. Alexander  Henry,  who  was  on  the  spot  at  the  time, 


2 Histoire  de  rAm<h-ique  Septentrionale  par  M.  de 
Paris,  1722,  Vol.  n,  124  et  seg. 


Bacqueville  de  la  Potherie, 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


5 


pays  that  the  game  played  by  these  Indians  was  "Baggati- 
Iway,  called  by  the  Canadians  le  jeu  de  la  Crosse  ”z 
I Parkman* * * 4  concludes  a vivid  description  of  the  surprise 
and  massacre  of  the  garrison  at  Michilimackinac,  based 
upon  authentic  facts,  as  follows  : "Bushing  and  striking, 
'tripping  their  adversaries,  or  hurling  them  to  the  ground, 
they  pursued  the  animating  contest  amid  the  laughter  and 
applause  of  the  spectators.  Suddenly,  from  the  midst  of 
the  multitude,  the  ball  soared  into  the  air  and,  descending 
in  a wide  curve,  fell  near  the  pickets  of  the  fort.  This 
was  no  chance  stroke.  It  was  part  of  a preconcerted 
scheme  to  insure  the  surprise  and  destruction  of  the  gar- 
rison. As  if  in  pursuit  of  the  ball,  the  players  turned 
and  came  rushing,  a maddened  and  tumultuous  throng, 
towards  the  gate.  In  a moment  they  had  reached  it.  The 
amazed  English  had  no  time  to  think  or  act.  The  shrill 
cries  of  the  ball-players  were  changed  to  the  ferocious 
war-whoop.  The  warriors  snatched  from  the  squaws  the 
hatchets  which  the  latter,  with  this  design,  had  concealed 
beneath  their  blankets.  Some  of  the  Indians  assailed  the 
spectators  without,  while  others  rushed  into  the  fort,  and 
all  was  carnage  and  confusion.” 

Thus  we  see  that  the  favorite  game  of  ball  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  known  to-day,  as  it  was  in  1636,  by  the 
name  of  " lacrosse,”  was  potent  among  them  as  a reme- 
dial exercise  or  superstitious  rite  to  cure  diseases  and 
avert  disaster ; that  it  formed  part  of  stately  ceremonials 
which  were  intended  to  entertain  and  amuse  distinguished 
guests  ; and  that  it  was  made  use  of  as  a stratagem  of  war, 


8 Travels  and  Adventures  in  Canada,  etc.,  by  Alexander  Henry,  New  York,  1809, 

p.  78;  Travels  through  the  Interior  parts  of  North  America,  by  Jonathan  Carver 
London,  1778,  p.  19.  The  Book  of  the  Indians,  by  Samuel  G.  Drake,  Boston,  1841 

Book  v,  Ch.  ill,  p.  52. 

4 The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  by  Francis  Parkman,  Boston,  1870.  Vol.  i,  p.  339. 


6 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


by  means  of  which  to  lull  the  suspicions  of  the  enemy  and 
to  gain  access  to  their  forts. 

The  descriptions  of  lacrosse  which  have  been  transmitted 
to  us,  would  often  prove  unintelligible  to  one  who  had 
never  seen  the  game  played.  The  writers  of  the  accounts 
which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century  were  men  whose  lives  were  spent 
among  the  scenes  which  they  described  and  they  had  but 
little  time,  and  few  opportunities  for  careful  writing.  The 
individual  records  though  somewhat  confused  enable  us 
easily  to  identify  the  game,  and  a comparison  of  the 
different  accounts  shows  how  thoroughly  the  main  features 
of  the  game  have  been  preserved. 

Lacrosse  is  played  to-day  as  follows  : The  number  of 
players  on  the  opposing  sides  should  be  equal.  Regular 
stations  are  assigned  in  the  rules  for  playing  the  game, 
for  twelve  on  each  side.  Goals,  each  consisting  of  two 
upright  posts  or  staffs,  generally  about  six  feet  apart  and 
of  equal  height,  are  planted  at  each  end  of  the  field.  The 
length  of  the  field  and  its  bounds  are  determined  by  the 
character  of  the  ground  and  the  skill  of  the  players. 
The  effort  of  each  side  is  to  prevent  the  ball  from  passing 
through  the  goal  assigned  to  its  protection,  and  equally  to 
try  to  drive  it  through  the  opposite  goal.  Under  no  cir- 
cumstances can  the  ball  be  touched  during  the  game, 
while  within  the  bounds,  by  the  hands  of  the  players. 
Each  player  has  a racket,  the  length  of  which,  though  op- 
tional, is  ordinarily  from  four  to  five  feet.  One  end  of 
this  racket  or  bat  is  curved  like  a shepherd’s  crook,  and 
from  the  curved  end  a thong  is  carried  across  to  a point 
on  the  handle  about  midway  its  length.  In  the  space 
thus  enclosed  between  the  thong  and  the  handle,  which  at 
its  broadest  part  should  not  exceed  a foot  in  width,  a flat 
network  is  interposed.  This  forms  the  bat.  It  is  with 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


7 


| 

t^riis  that  the  player  picks  up  and  throws  the  ball  used 
iji  the  game,  which  should  be  about  eight  or  nine  inches 
ip  circumference.  The  ball  is  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
field  by  the  umpire,  and  when  the  game  is  called,  the  op- 
posing players  strive  to  get  possession  of  it  with  their 
rackets.  The  play  consists  in  running  with  it  and  throw- 
ing it,  with  the  design  of  driving  it  between  the  adversary’s 
goal  posts  ; and  in  defensive  action,  the  purpose  of  which  is 
to  prevent  the  opponents  from  accomplishing  similar  de- 
signs on  their  part.  As  the  wind  or  the  sunlight  may 
i|avor  one  side  or  the  other  on  any  field,  provision  is  gen- 
erally made  for  a change  of  goals  during  the  match.  The 
stations  of  the  players  and  the  minor  rules  of  the  game 
are  unimportant  in  this  connection. 

The  oldest  attempt  at  a detailed  description  of  the  game 
is  given  by  Nicolas  Perrot  who  from  1662  to  1699  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  as  coureur  de  bois , trader,  or 
government  agent,  among  the  Indians  of  the  far  West. 
It  is  of  him  that  Abbe  Ferland  says,  " Courageous  man, 
honest  writer  and  good  observer,  Perrot  lived  for  a long 
time  among  the  Indians  of  the  West  who  were  very  much 
attached  to  him.”  His  accounts  of  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  North  American  Indians  have  been  liberally 
used  by  subsequent  writers  and  as  the  part  treating  of 
games  is  not  only  very  full  but  also  covers  a very  early 
period  of  history,  it  is  doubly  interesting  for  purposes  of 
comparison  with  games  of  a later  day.  He5  says,  "The 
savages  have  many  kinds  of  games  in  which  they  delight. 
Their  natural  fondness  for  them  is  so  great  that  they  will 
neglect  food  and  drink,  not  only  to  join  in  a game  but 
even  to  look  at  one.  There  is  among  them  a certain  game 


6 MOrtoire  snrles  Moeurs,  Coustumes  et  Relligion  des  Sauvages  de  l’Amerique 
Septentrionale,  par  Nicolas  Perrot,  Leipzig  et  Paris,  1864,  p.  43,  et  seq. 


8 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


of  cross  which  is  very  similar  to  our  tennis.  Their  cus- 
tom in  playing  it  is  to  match  tribe  against  tribe,  and  if 
the  numbers  are  not  equal  they  render  them  so  by  with- 
drawing some  of  the  men  from  the  stronger  side.  You 
see  them  all  armed  with  a cross,  that  is  to  say  a stick 
which  has  a large  portion  at  the  bottom,  laced  like  a 
racket.  The  ball  with  which  they  play  is  of  wood  and  of 
nearly  the  shape  of  a turkey’s  egg.  The  goals  of  the 
game  are  fixed  in  an  open  field.  These  goals  face  to  the 
east  and  to  the  west,  to  the  north  and  to  the  south.” 
Then  follows  a somewhat  confused  description  of  the 
method  and  the  rules  of  the  contest  from  which  we  can 
infer  that  after  a side  had  won  two  goals  they  changed 
sides  of  the  field  with  their  opponents,  and  that  two  out 
of  three,  or  three  out  of  five  goals  decided  the  game. 

Reading  Perrot’s  description  in  connection  with  that 
given  by  de  la  Potherie  of  the  game  played  before  Perrot 
by  the  Miamis,  helps  us  to  remove  the  confusion  of  the 
account.  Abbe  Ferland6  describes  the  game.  He  was 
a diligent  student  of  all  sources  of  authority  upon  these 
subjects  and  was  probably  familiar  with  the  modern 
mime.  His  account  of  the  Indian  game  follows  that  of 
Perrot  so  closely  as  to  show  that  it  was  his  model.  It  is, 
however,  clear  and  distinct  in  its  details,  free  from  the 
confusion  which  attends  Perrot’s  account  and  might  al- 
most serve  for  a description  of  the  game  as  played  by  the 
Indians  to-day.  Perrot  was  a frontier-man  and  failed  when 
he  undertook  to  describe  anything  that  required  careful 
and  exact  use  of  language.  We  can  only  interpret  him 
intelligently  by  combining  his  descriptions  with  those  of 
other  writers  and  applying  our  own  knowledge  of  the  game 
as  we  see  it  to-day.  He  is,  however,  more  intelligible 

6Cours  d’Histoire  du  Canada,  par  J.  B.  A.  Ferland,  Quebec,  1861,  Vol.  I,  p. 
134. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


9 


when  he  gets  on  more  general  ground,  and  after  having 
disposed  of  the  technicalities  of  the  game,  he  proceeds : 
” Men,  women,  boys  and  girls  are  received  on  the  sides 
which  they  make  up,  and  they  wager  between  themselves 
more  or  less  according  to  their  means.” 

" These  games  ordinarily  begin  after  the  melting  of  the 
ice  and  they  last  even  to  seed  time.  In  the  afternoon 
one  sees  all  the  players  bedecked7  and  painted.  Each 
party  has  its  leader  who  addresses  them,  announcing  to  his 
players  the  hour  fixed  for  opening  the  game.  The  players 
assemble  in  a crowd  in  the  middle  of  the  field  and  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  two  sides,  having  the  ball  in  his  hands 
casts  it  into  the  air.  Each  one  then  tries  to  throw  it  to- 
wards the  side  where  he  ought  to  send  it.  If  it  falls  to 
the  earth,  the  player  tries  to  draw  it  to  him  with  his  cross. 
If  it  is  sent  outside  the  crowd,  then  the  most  active  play- 
ers, by  closely  pursuing  it,  distinguish  themselves.  You 
hear  the  noise  which  they  make  striking  against  each 
other  and  warding  off  blows,  in  their  strife  to  send  the 
ball  in  the  desired  direction.  When  one  of  them  holds 
the  ball  between  his  feet,  it  is  for  him,  in  his  unwilling- 
ness to  let  it  go,  to  avoid  the  blows  which  his  adversaries 
incessantly  shower  down  upon  his  feet.  Should  he  hap- 
pen to  be  wounded  at  this  juncture,  he  alone  is  responsible 
for  it.  It  has  happened  that  some  have  had  their  legs 
broken,  others  their  arms  and  some  have  been  killed. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  among  them  those  who  are  crip- 
pled for  life  and  who  could  only  be  at  such  a game  by  an 


7 I translate  apiffez , “ bedecked,”  assuming  from  the  context  that  the  author 
meant  to  writ.i  “ attifez .”  We  have,  elsewhere,  accounts  which  show  that  ball- 
players, even  though  compelled  to  play  with  scant  clothing,  still  covered  them- 
selves with  their  ornaments.  J.  M.  Stanley  in  his  Portraits  of  North  Amei’ican 
Indians,  Smithsonian  Miscellaneous  Collections,  Washington,  1862,  Vol.  n,  p.  13, 
says  that  the  “ Creek”  ball-players  first  appear  on  the  ground  in  costume.  “ Dur- 
ing the  play  they  divest  themselves  of  all  their  ornaments  which  are  usually  dis- 
played on  these  occasions  for  the  purpose  of  betting  on  the  result  of  the  play.  ” 


10 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


act  of  sheer  obstinacy.  When  accidents  of  this  kind 
happen,  the  unfortunate  withdraws  quietly  from  the  game 
if  he  can  do  so.  If  his  injury  will  not  permit  him,  his 
relations  carry  him  to  the  cabin  and  the  game  continues 
until  it  is  finished  as  if  nothing  had  happened.” 

" When  the  sides  are  equal  the  players  will  occupy  an 
entire  afternoon  without  either  side  gaining  any  advan- 
tage ; at  other  times  one  of  the  two  will  gain  the  two 
games  that  they  need  to  win.  In  this  game  you  would 
say  to  see  them  run  that  they  looked  like  two  parties 
who  wanted  to  fight.  This  exercise  contributes  much  to 
render  the  savages  alert  and  prepared  to  avoid  blows 
from  the  tomahawk  of  an  enemy,  when  they  find  them- 
selves in  a combat.  Without  being  told  in  advance  that 
it  was  a game,  one  might  truly  believe  that  they  fought 
in  open  country.  Whatever  accident  the  game  may  cause, 
they  attribute  it  to  the  chance  of  the  game  and  have  no 
ill  will  towards  each  other.  The  suffering  is  for  the 
wounded,  who  bear  it  contentedly  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened, thus  making  it  appear  that  they  have  a great  deal 
of  courage  and  are  men.” 

" The  side  that  wins  takes  whatever  has  been  put  up  on 
the  game  and  whatever  there  is  of  profit,  and  that  without 
any  dispute  on  the  part  of  the  others  when  it  is  a question 
of  paying,  no  matter  what  the  kind  of  game.  Neverthe- 
less, if  some  person  who  is  not  in  the  game,  or  who  has 
not  bet  anything,  should  throw  the  ball  to  the  advan- 
tage of  one  side  or  the  other,  one  of  those  whom  the 
throw  would  not  help  would  attack  him,  demanding  if 
this  is  his  affair  and  why  he  has  mixed  himself  with  it. 
They  often  come  to  quarrels  about  this  and  if  some  of  the 
chiefs  did  not  reconcile  them,  there  would  be  blood  shed 
and  perhaps  some  killed.” 

Originally,  the  game  was  open  to  any  number  of  com- 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


11 


petitors.  According  to  the  Relation  of  1636,  "Village 
was  pitted  against  village.”  " Tribe  was  matched  against 
tribe,”  says  Perrot.  The  number  engaged  in  the  game 
described  by  La  Potherie8  was  estimated  by  him  at  two 
thousand.  LaHontan9  says  that  "the  savages  commonly 
played  it  in  large  companies  of  three  or  four  hundred  at 
a time,”  while  Charlevoix10  says  the  number  of  players 
was  variable  and  adds  "for  instance  if  they  are  eighty,” 
thus  showing  about  the  number  he  would  expect  to  find 
in  a game.  When  Morgan* 11  speaks  of  six  or  eight  on  a 
side,  he  must  allude  to  a later  period,  probably  after  the 
game  was  modified  by  the  whites  who  had  adopted  it 
among  their  amusements.12 

Our  earliest  accounts  of  the  game  as  played  by  the  In- 
dians in  the  south  are  about  one  hundred  years  later  than 
the  corresponding  records  in  the  north.  Adair13  says  the 


8 Vol.  IT,  p.  126. 

9 Memoires  de  L’Amerique  Septentrionale,  ou  la  Suite  des  Voyages  de  Mr.  Le 
Baron  de  LaHontan,  Amsterdam,  1705,  Vol.  n,  p.  113. 

10  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France.  Journal  d’un  Voyage,  etc.,  par  le  P.  de  Char- 
levoix, Paris,  1744,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  319. 

11  League  of  the  Iroquois,  by  Lewis  II.  Morgan,  Rochester,  1851,  p.  294. 

12  The  game  is  also  mentioned  in  An  Account  of  the  Remarkable  Occurrences 
in  the  Life  and  Travels  of  Col.  James  Smith  during  his  Captivity  with  the  Indians 
in  the  years  1755-1759.  Cincinnati,  1870,  p.  78.  It  is  described  by  Col.  William  L. 
Stone  in  his  Life  of  Brant,  Albany,  1865,  Vol.  II,  p.  448.  In  one  game  of  which  he 
speaks,  the  ball  was  started  by  a young  and  beautiful  squaw  who  was  elaborately 
dressed  for  the  occasion.  Notwithstanding  the  extent  and  value  of  Col.  Stone’s 
contributions  to  the  literature  on  the  subject  of  the  North  American  Indians,  he 
makes  the  erroneous  statement  that  “ The  Six  Nations  had  adopted  from  the 
Whites  the  popular  game  of  ball  or  cricket.”  See  p.  445,  same  volume,  c.f.  The 
Memoir  upon  the  late  War  in  North  America,  1755-1760,  by  M.  Pouchot,  translated 
and  edited  by  Franklin  B.  Hough,  Vol.  II,  p.  195.  A game  of  ball  is  also  described 
in  Historical  Collections  of  Georgia,  liy  the  Rev.  George  White,  3d  edition,  New 
York,  1855,  p.  670,  whicli  took  place  in  Walker  County,  Georgia,  between  Chatooga 
and  Chicamauga.  The  ball  was  thrown  up  at  the  centre.  The  bats  were  described 
as  curiously  carved  spoons.  If  the  ball  touched  the  ground  the  play  stopped  and  it 
was  thrown  up  again.  Rev.  J.  Owen  Dorsey  in  a paper  entitled  “Omaha  Soci- 
ology,” printed  in  the  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  etc. 
1881-1882,  Washington,  1884,  §230,  p.  336,  describes  the  game  amongst  the  Omahas. 

,3The  History  of  the  American  Indians,  particularly  those  Nations  adjoining  to 
the  Mississippi,  etc.,  by  James  Adair,  London,  1775,  p.  399. 


12 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


gamesters  are  equal  in  number  and  speaks  of  "the  crowd  of 
players”  preventing  the  one  who  "catches  the  ball  from 
throwing  it  off  with  a long  direction.”  Bossu14says,  "they 
are  forty  on  each  side,”  while  Bartram15  says,  "the  inhab- 
itants of  one  town  play  against  another  in  consequence  of 
a challenge.”  From  this  it  would  seem  that  among  those 
Indians,  as  at  the  North,  the  number  of  players  was  gov- 
erned only  by  the  circumstances  under  which  the  game 
was  played. 

The  ball,  originally  of  wood,16  was  replaced  by  one  made 
of  deer  skin.  Adair  gives  the  following  description  of  its 
manufacture  : "The  ball  is  made  of  a piece  of  scraped  deer- 
skin, moistened,  and  stuffed  hard  with  deer’s  hair,  and 
strongly  sewed  with  deer’s  sinews.”17 

According  to  Morgan  the  racket  has  undergone  a similar 
change,  from  a curved  wooden  head  to  the  curved  stick 
with  open  network,  but  we  have  seen  in  the  earliest  de- 
scription at  our  command,  that  in  the  days  of  Perrot  the 
cross  was  "laced  like  a racket.”18 

The  game  was  played  not  only  by  the  Indians  of  our 
Coast,  but  Powers19  found  it  also  among  the  Californian  In- 
dians. He  describes  a game  of  tennis  played  by  the  Porno 
Indians  in  Russian  River  Valley,  of  which  he  had  heard 
nothing  among  the  northern  tribes.  "A  ball  is  rounded 
out  of  an  oak  knot  as  large  as  those  used  by  school  boys, 
and  it  is  propelled  by  a racket  which  is  constructed  of  a 


14  Travels  through  that  Part  of  North  America  formerly  called  Louisiana,  by  Mr. 
Bossu,  Captain  in  the  French  Marines.  Translated  from  the  French  by  John  Rein- 
hold Forster,  London,  1771,  Vol.  I,  p.  304. 

10  Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  etc.,  by  William  Bartram,  Philadel- 
phia, 1791,  p.  508. 

16  La  Potherie,  Vol.  II,  p.  126;  Perrot,  p.  44. 

« p.  400. 

“League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  298;  Perrot  p.  44. 

^Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  ill,  p.  151.  Tribes  of  Cali- 
fornia by  Stephen  Powers;  The  same  game  is  described  among  the  Meewocs  in 
The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  by  H.  II.  Bancroft,  Vol.  I,  p.  393. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


13 


long  slender  stick,  bent  double  and  bound  together,  leav- 
ing a circular  hoop  at  the  extremity,  across  which  is  woven 
a coarse  mesh  work  of  strings.  Such  an  implement  is  not 
strong  enough  for  batting  the  ball,  neither  do  they  bat  it, 
but  simply  shove  or  thrust  it  along  the  ground.” 

Paul  Kane20  describes  a game  played  among  the  Chi- 
nooks. He  says  "They  also  take  great  delight  in  a game 
with  a ball  which  is  played  by  them  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  Cree,  Chippewa  and  Sioux  Indians.  Two  poles  are 
erected  about  a mile  apart,  and  the  company  is  divided 
into  two  bands  armed  with  sticks,  having  a small  ring  or 
hoop  at  the  end  with  which  the  ball  is  picked  up  and 
thrown  to  a great  distance,  each  party  striving  to  get  the 
ball  past  theif  own  goal.  They  are  sometimes  a hundred 
on  a side,  and  their  play  is  kept  up  with  great  noise  and 
excitement.  At  this  play  they  bet  heavily  as  it  is  gener- 
ally played  between  tribes  or  villages.” 

Domenech21  writing  about  the  Indians  of  the  interior, 
calls  the  game  "cricket,”  and  says  the  pla}^ers  were  cos- 
tumed as  follows  : "Short  drawers,  or  rather  a belt,  the 
body  being  first  daubed  over  with  a layer  of  bright  colors  ; 
from  the  belt  (which  is  short  enough  to  leave  the  thighs 
free)  hangs  a long  tail,  tied  up  at  the  extremity  with  long 
horsehair;  round  their  necks  is  a necklace,  to  which  is 
attached  a floating  mane,  dyed  red,  as  is  the  tail,  and  fall- 
ingin  the  way  of  a dress  fringe  over  the  chest  and  shoulders. 
* * In  the  northwest,  in  the  costume  indispensable  to  the 
players,  feathers  are  sometimes  substituted  for  horse  hair.” 
He  adds  "that  some  tribes  play  with  two  sticks”  and  that 
it  is  played  in  "winter  on  the  ice.”  "The  ball  is  made  of 
wood  or  brick  covered  with  kid-skin  leather,  sometimes  of 

20Wanderings  of  an  Artist  among  the  Indians  of  North  America  by  Paul  Kane, 
p.  190;  H.  H.  Bancroft’s  Native  Races,  Vol.  I,  p.  244. 

21  Seven  Years’  Residence  in  the  Great  Deserts  of  North  America  by  the  Abbe 
Em.  Domenech,  Vol.  ii,  pp.  192,  193. 


14 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


leather  curiously  interwoven.”  Schoolcraft  describes  the 
game  as  played  in  the  winter  on  the  ice.22 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  widest  difference  prevails  in 
the  estimate  of  the  distance  apart  at  which  the  goals  are 
set.  Henry,  in  his  account  of  the  game  at  Michilimackinac 
says  "they  are  at  a considerable  distance  from  each  other, 
as  a mile  or  more.”  Charlevoix  places  the  goals  in  a game 
with  eighty  players  at  "half  a league  apart”  meaning  prob- 
ably half  a mile.  LaHontan  estimates  the  distance  between 
the  goals  at  "live  or  six  hundred  paces.”  Adair,23  who  is 
an  intelligent  writer,  and  who  was  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  Cherokees,  Choctaws, 
and  Chicasaws  estimates  the  length  of  the  field  at  "five 
hundred  yards,”  while  Romans24  in  descrimng  the  goals 
uses  this  phrase  "they  fix  two  poles  across  each  other  at 
about  a hundred  and  fifty  feet  apart.”  Bossu25  speaks  as  if 
in  the  game  which  he  saw  played  there  was  but  a single 
goal.  He  says  "They  agree  upon  a mark  or  aim  about 
sixty  yards  off,  and  distinguished  by  two  great  poles,  be- 
tween which  the  ball  is  to  pass.” 

The  goals  among  the  northern  Indians  were  single  posts 
at  the  ends  of  the  field.  It  is  among  the  southern  Indians 
that  we  first  hear  of  two  posts  being  raised  to  form  a sort 
of  gate  through  or  over  which  the  ball  must  pass.  Adair 
says,  "they  fix  two  bending  poles  into  the  ground,  three 
yards  apart  below,  but  slanting  a considerable  way  OUt- 


22  Schoolcraft’s  North  American  Indians,  Vol  n,  p.  78;  See  also  Ball-play  among 
the  Dacotas,  in  Philander  Prescott’s  paper,  Ibid,  Vol.  iv,  p.  64. 

23Henry,  p.  78;  Charlevoix  Vol.  in,  p.  819;  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  189;  LaHon- 
tan, Vol.  II,  p.  118;  Adair,  p.  400. 

2<A  concise  Natural  History  of  East  and  West  Florida,  by  Capt.  Bernard  Ro- 
mans, New  York,  1776,  p.  79. 

2®Vol.  I,  p.  304;  Similarly,  Pickett  (History  of  Alabama,  Vol.  I,  p.  92)  describes 
a game  among  the  Creeks  in  which  there  was  but  one  goal,  consisting  of  two  poles 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  field  between  which  the  ball  must  pass  to  count  one. 
He  cites  “Bartram,”  and  the  “ Narrative  of  a Mission  to  the  Creek  Nation  by  Col. 
Mariuus  Willett,”  as  his  authorities.  Neither  ol' them  sustains  him  on  this  poiut. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


15 


wards.  The  party  that  happens  to  throw  the  ball  over 
these  counts  one;  but  if  it  be  thrown  underneath,  it  is 
cast  back  and  played  for  as  usual.”  The  ball  is  to  be 
thrown  "through  the  lower  part”  of  the  two  poles  which 
are  fixed  across  each  other  at  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  apart,  according  to  Romans.  In  Bossu’s  account  it  is 
"between”  the  two  great  poles  which  distinguish  the  mark 
or  aim,  that  "the  ball  is  to  pass.”  On  the  other  band, 
Bartram,  describing  what  he  saw  in  North  Carolina,  speaks 
of  the  ball  "being  hurled  into  the  air,  midway  between  the 
two  high  pillars  which  are  the  goals,  and  the  party  who 
bears  off  the  ball  to  their  pillar  wins  the  game.” 

In  some  parts  of  the  south  each  player  had  two  rackets 
between  which  the  ball  was  caught.  For  this  purpose 
they  were  necessarily  shorter  than  the  cross  of  the  north- 
ern Indians.  Adair  says,  "The  ball  sticks  are  about  two 
feet  long,  the  lower  end  somewhat  resembling  the  palm  of 
a hand,  and  which  are  worked  with  deer-skin  thongs.  Be- 
tween these  they  catch  the  ball,  and  throw  it  a great  dis- 
tance.”26 

That  this  was  not  universal  throughout  the  south  would 
appear  from  Bossu’s  account  who  says,  "Every  one  has  a 
battledoor  in  his  hand  about  two  feet  and  a half  long,  made 
very  nearly  in  the  form  of  ours,  of  walnut,  or  chestnut 
wood,  and  covered  with  roe-skins.”  Bartram  also  says 
that  each  person  has  "a  racquet  or  hurl,  which  is  an  imple- 
ment of  a very  curious  construction  somewhat  resembling 
a ladle  or  little  hoop  net,  with  a handle  near  three  feet  in 
length,  the  hoop  and  handle  of  wood  and  the  netting  of 
thongs  of  raw-hide  or  tendons  of  an  animal.” 

Catlin27  saw  the  game  played  by  the  Choctaws  on  their 

2flAdair,  p.  400 ; A Narrative  of  the  Military  Adventures  of  Colonel  Marinus  Wil- 
lett, p.  109. 

27Lettersand  Notes  on  the  Manners,  Customs  and  Condition  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican Indians,  by  George  Catlin,  Vol.  II,  p.  123  et  seq. 


16 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


Western  Reservation.  They  used  two  rackets.  In  this 
game  the  old  men  acted  as  judges. 

The  game  was  ordinarily  started  by  tossing  the  ball  into 
the  air  in  the  centre  of  the  field.  This  act  is  represented 
by  Perrot  as  having  been  performed  by  one  of  the  leaders 
in  the  game,  but  it  is  more  in  accord  with  the  spirit  in 
which  the  game  was  played,  that  it  should  have  been  done 
by  some  outsider.  Bossu  says,  "An  old  man  stands  in  the 
middle  of  the  place  appropriated  to  the  play,  and  throws 
up  into  the  air  a ball  of  roe-skins  rolled  about  each  other,” 
while  Powers28  says  that  among  the  Calilornian  Indians 
this  act  was  performed  by  a squaw.  The  judges  started  the 
ball  ariiong  the  Choctaws.29  Notwithstanding  the  differ- 
ences in  the  forms  of  the  goals,  their  distance  apart  and  the 
methods  of  play  disclosed  in  all  these  descriptions,  the 
game  can  only  be  regarded  as  the  same.  The  historians 
who  have  preserved  for  us  the  accounts  of  the  ancient 
southern  games  from  which  quotations  have  been  made, 
are  all  Englishmen  except  Bossu,  and  he  entered  the  coun- 
try not  by  the  way  of  Quebec  but  by  way  of  New  Orleans. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  we  do  not  find  in  use 
amongst  them  the  name  which  the  early  French  fathers 
and  traders  invariably  applied  to  the  game.  The  descrip- 
tion, however,  given  by  these  writers,  of  the  racket  used 
in  the  south,  corresponds  so  closely  with  the  crook  from 
which  the  game  took  the  name  by  which  it  is  known,  that 
we  must  accept  the  game  as  a modified  form  of  lacrosse. 
From  Maine  to  Florida,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
we  trace  a knowledge  of  it.  We  have  found  it  in  use 
among  the  confederate  nations  of  the  north  and  of  the 
south  and  among  scattered  tribes  throughout  the  country. 

In  the  majority  of  instances  the  natural  instincts  of  those 


^Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  151. 
2yCutlin,  Vol.  II,  p.  125. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


17 


who  participated  in  the  strife  were  stimulated  by  local 
pride.  The  reputation  of  their  tribe  or  their  village 
rested  upon  the  result.  Ardent  as  the  spirit  of  the  contest 
must  necessarily  have  been  under  such  circumstances, 
among  a people  where  courage  and  physique  counted  for 
so  much,  their  intense  passion  for  gambling  intervened  to 
fan  into  fiercer  flames  the  spirits  of  the  Contesting  players 
and  to  inspire  them  to  more  earnest  efforts.  Stakes,  often 
of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  players  and  their  back- 
ers, were  wagered  upon  the  games.  A reputation  for 
courage,  for  skill  and  for  endurance,  was  the  most  valua- 
ble possession  of  the  Indian.  The  maintenance  of  this 
was  to  a certain  extent  involved  in  each  game  that  he 


N. 


played.  Oftentimes  in  addition  to  this,  all  of  his  own  pos- 
sessions and  the  property  of  his  friends  and  neighbors  in 
the  form  of  skins  and  beads  were  staked  upon  the  result 
of  the  contest.  In  games  where  so  much  was  involved, 
we  need  not  be  surprised  to  learn  from  Perrot  that  limbs 
were  occasionally  broken  and  that  sometimes  players  were 
even  killed.  In  the  notes  to  Perrot’s  Memoir  it  is  stated 
that  some  anonymous  annotator  has  written  across  the 
margin  of  Perrot’s  manuscript  at  this  point  :30  " False,  nei- 
ther arms  nor  legs  are  broken,  nor  are  players  ever  killed.” 
We  scarcely  need  the  corroboratory  statements  of  La  Po- 
therie31  that  " these  games  are  ordinarily  followed  by  bro- 
ken heads,  arms  and  legs,  and  often  people  are  killed  at 
them  and  also  of  LaHontan,32  that  "they  tear  their  skins 
and  break  their  legs”  at  them,  to  satisfy  us  that  Perrot 
rather  than  his  critic  is  to  be  believed.  If  no  such  state- 
ments had  been  made,  we  should  infer  that  so  violent  a 
game,  on  which  stakes  of  such  vital  importance  were  placed, 
could  not  be  played  by  a people  like  the  Indians,  except 
with  such  results. 


so  Perrot,  Note  I,  Ch.  x,  p.  187.  81  VoJ.  n,  pp.  126-127.  31  Vol.  II,  p.  113. 


18 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


Notwithstanding  the  violence  of  the  game  and  the  deep 
interest  which  the  players  and  spectators  took  in  it,  the 
testimony  of  historians  is  uniform  to  the  effect  that  ac- 
cidental injuries  received  during  its  progress  produced 
no  ill  will.  We  have  seen  that  Perrot  states  that  if  any- 
one attempted  to  Hold  the  ball  with  his  feet,  he  took  his 
chance  of  injury,  and  that  those  who  were  injured  retired 
quietly  from  the  field.  Adair  says,  "It  is  a very  unusual 
thing  to  see  them  act  spitefully,  not  even  in  this  severe 
and  tempting  exercise.”  Bossu  bears  testimony  to  the 
same  effect,  in  the  following  words : "The  players  are 
never  displeased  ; some  old  men,  who  assist  at  the  play, 
become  mediators,  and  determine  that  the  play  is  only 
intended  as  a recreation,  and  not  as  an  opportunity  of 
quarrelling.” 

Where  the  game  was  played  by  appointment  in  response 
to  a challenge,  the  men  and  women  assembled  in  their 
best  ornaments,  and  danced  and  sang  during  the  day 
and  night  previous  to  that  of  the  appointed  day.  The 
players  supplicated  the  Great  Spirit  for  success.  Female 
relations  chanted  to  him  all  the  previous  night  and  the 
men  fasted  from  the  previous  night  till  the  game  was  over.33 
The  players  wore  but  little  in  the  way  of  covering.  Ro- 
mans speaks  of  them  as  being  "almost  naked,  painted  and 
ornamented  with  feathers  and  Bossu  says  they  were  "na- 
ked, painted  with  various  colours,  having  a tyger  tail  fast- 
ened behind,  and  feathers  on  their  heads  and  arms.” 

It  is  not  astonishing  that  a game  which  called  for  such 
vigorous  exercise34  and  which  taxed  the  strength,  agility 
and  endurance  of  the  players  to  such  a degree,  should  be 
described  by  writers  in  terms  which  showed  that  they 

**  Adair,  p.  401;  Bossu,  Vol.  i,  p.  304;  and  Willett’s  Narrative  p.  109. 

84  Ferland,  Vol.  I,  p.  134,  and  Major  C.  Swan  in  a Report  concerning  the  Creeks  in 
1791,  Schoolcraft,  Vol.  v,  p.  277,  assert  that  the  Whites  excel  the  Indians  at  this 
game. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


19 


looked  upon  it  rather  in  the  light  of  a manly  contest  than 
as  an  amusement.  Nevertheless  the  young  people  and 
the  women  often  took  part  in  it.  Perrot  tells  us  so,  and 
both  Romans  and  Bossu  say  that  after  the  men  were  through, 
the  women  usually  played  a game,  the  bets  on  which  were 
generally  high.  Powers35represents  the  squaws  among  the 
Californian  Indians  as  joining  the  game. 

Dexterity  in  the  game  lay  in  the  skilful  use  of  the  rack- 
et ; in  rapid  running ; in  waylaying  an  adversary  when  he 
.was  in  possession  of  the  ball ; in  avoiding  members  of  the 
opposing  side  when  the  player  himself  was  running  with 
the  ball  for  the  goal,  and  in  adroitly  passing  the  ball  to 
one  of  the  same  side  when  surrounded  by  opponents.  To 
give  full  scope  to  skill  in  the  use  of  the  racket,  great 
stress  was  laid  upon  the  rule  that  the  ball  was  not  to  be 
touched  by  the  hand.  Perrot  says,  " if  it  falls  to  the  earth 
he  tries  to  draw  it  to  him  with  his  cross.”  Charlevoix  says, 
"Their  business  is  to  strike  the  ball  to  the  post  of  the  adverse 
party  without  letting  it  fall  to  the  ground  and  without 
touching  it  with  the  hand.”  Adair  says,  " They  are  not 
allowed  to  catch  it  with  their  hands.” 

The  early  writers  were  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  char- 
acter  of  the  exercise  in  this  game  was  fitted  to  develop 
the  young  warriors  for  the  war  path,  and  they  commented 
on  the  practice  that  they  thus  acquired  in  rapid  running 
and  in  avoiding  blows  from  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
an  adversary. 

\ When  we  review  the  various  features  of  the  game  which 
its  chroniclers  have  thought  worthy  of  record,  we  can  but 
conclude  that  it  was  rather  a contest  of  grave  importance 
to  the  players  than  a mere  pastime,  nor  can  we  fail  to  ac- 
cept the  concurrent  testimony  as  to  the  widespread  terri- 


36  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  in,  p.  151. 


20 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


tory  in  which  it  was  domesticated,  as  additional  evidence 
of  the  extent  of  the  intercourse  which  prevailed  among 
the  native  tribes  of  this  country. 

PLATTER  OR  DICE. 

The  second  in  the  list  of  games  given  by  Father  Bre- 
beuf  is  that  which  he  calls  "platter.”  Writers  who  des- 
cribe the  habits  of  the  Indians  at  the  north  have  much  to 
say  concerning  this  game.  According  to  Lescarbot,  Jac- 
ques Cartier  saw  it  played,  and  recorded  his  observations.36 

Sagard  Theodat  37  devotes  considerable  space  to  it. 
Both  Father  Brebeuf,  in  his  Relation  in  1636,  and  Father 
Lalemant,  in  his  Relation  in  1639,  give  long  accounts  of 
the  game,  the  causes  for  its  being  played,  the  excesses  in 
gambling  to  which  it  leads,  and  the  methods  which  pre- 
vail in  its  practice.  In  Per  rot’s38  work  there  is  a good  de- 
scription of  the  game,  although  not  so  full  as  his  account 
of  lacrosse,  from  which  we  have  already  quoted.  La 
Potherie  and  LaHontan  barely  mention  it.  Lafitau39  in 
his  searching  analysis  of  the  manuscripts  deposited  at  Que- 
bec, while  seeking  for  traces  of  his  theory  that  a resem- 
blance existed  between  the  habits  of  the  Indians  and  those 
of  the  ancient  dwellers  in  eastern  Europe,  found  an  un- 
usual quantity  of  material  bearing  on  this  particular  topic, 
which  he  has  reproduced  in  his  book.  Charlevoix40,  in 
a letter  dated  June  8,  1721,  says,  "As  I was  returning 
through  a quarter  of  the  Huron  village,  I perceived  a num- 
ber of  these  Indians,  who  seemed  much  heated  at  play.  I 


38  Histoive  de  la  Nouvelle  France  par  Marc  Lescarbot,  Nouvelle  Edition,  Paris 
18«6,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  754. 

*7  Histoire  du  Canada,  etc.,  par  Gabriel  Sagard  Theodat;  Nouvelle  Edition, 
Paris,  1866,  Vol.  I,  pp.  243-244. 

»»  p.  50. 

39  Mceurs  des  Sauvages  Ameriquains,  etc.,  par  le  P.  Lafitau,  Paris,  1724,  Vol. 
II,  p.  339. 

80  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  260-1. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


21 


approached  them  and  found  that  the  game  they  were  play- 
ing at  was  what  they  called  the  game  of  platter.  This  is 
the  mime  to  which  the  Indians  are  addicted  above  all 

O 

others.  They  sometimes  lose  their  rest  and  in  some  de- 
gree their  very  senses  at  it.  They  stake  all  they  are  worth, 
and  several  of  them  have  been  known  to  continue  at  it  till 
they  have  stript  themselves  stark  naked  and  lost  all  their 
movables  in  their  cabin.  Some  have  been  known  to  stake 
their  liberty  for  a certain  time.  This  circumstance  proves 
beyond  all  doubt  how  passionately  fond  they  are  of  it, 
there  being  no  people  in  the  world  more  jealous  of  their 
liberty  than  our  Indians.” 

In  the  description  which  Charlevoix  then  gives,  he  has 
relied  partly  upon  personal  observations  and  also  to  some 
extent,  upon  accounts  which  were  at  that  time  in  manu- 
script in  Quebec  and  which  were  easily  accessible  to 
him.  He  was  himself  an  intelligent  observer  and  a cul- 
tivated man.  His  history  and  his  letters,  although  not 
free  from  the  looseness  of  expression  which  pervades  con- 
temporaneous accounts  show  on  the  whole  the  disci- 
pline of  an  educated  mind.  We  learn  from  him  and  from 
the  authorities  heretofore  enumerated  that  two  players 
only  from  each  side  could  participate  in  this  game  at  any 
given  time  during  its  progress.  The  necessary  imple- 
ments were  a bowl  and  a number  of  dice  fashioned  some- 
what like  apricot  seeds,  and  colored  differently  upon  the 
upper  and  lower  sides.  Generally,  one  side  was  white 
and  the  other  black.  The  number  of  these  dice  was  gen- 
erally six.  There  was  no  fixed  rule  as  to  the  materials  of 
which  they  were  made ; sometimes  they  were  of  bone ; 
sometimes  the  stones  of  fruits  were  used.  The  impor- 
tant point  was  that  the  centre  of  gravity  of  each  die 
should  be  so  placed,  that  when  it  was  thrown  into  the 
air,  or  when  the  bowl  in  which  it  was  placed,  was  vio- 


22 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


lently  twirled,  there  would  be  an  even  chance  as  to  which 
of  its  two  sides  the  die  would  settle  upon  when  it  lodged ; 
and  in  the  game  as  it  was  played  in  early  times  that  the 
whole  number  of  dice  used  should  be  uniform  in  the  col- 
oring of  the  sides,  each  die  having  the  different  sides 
of  different  colors.  The  dice  were  placed  in  the  bowl 
which  was  generally  of  wood,  between  the  two  players 
who  were  to  cast  them  in  behalf  of  their  respective  sides. 
These  casters  or  throwers  were  selected  by  each  side  and 
the  prevailing  motives  in  their  choice  were  generally 
based  upon  some  superstitious  belief  in  their  luck.  Per- 
haps this  one  had  dreamed  that  he  would  win.  Perhaps 
that  one  was  believed  to  possess  some  magic  power, 
or  some  secret  ointment  which  when  applied  to  the  dice 
would  cause  them  to  turn  up  favorably  for  his  side.41  The 
spectators  were  generally  arranged  in  seats  along  the  sides 
of  the  cabin42,  placed  in  tiers  so  that  each  person  could 
have  a view  of  the  players.  They  were  in  more  senses 
than  one  deeply  interested  in  the  game.  When  the  cast 
was  to  be  made  the  player  would  strike  the  bowl  upon  the 
ground  so  as  to  make  the  dice  jump  into  the  air43  and 
would  then  twirl  the  bowl  rapidly  around.  During  this 
process  and  until  it  stopped  its  revolutions  and  the  dice 
finally  settled,  the  players  addressed  the  dice  and  beat 
themselves  on  their  breasts.44  The  spectators  during  the 
same  period  filled  the  air  with  shouts  and  invoked  aid 
from  their  own  protecting  powers,  while  in  the  same 
breath  they  poured  forth  imprecations  on  those  of  their 
adversaries.  The  number  of  points  affected  the  length  of 
the  game  and  was  entirely  optional.  If  six  dice  were  used 


41  Relations  ties  Jesuites,  Relation  en  l’Ann^e,  1636,  p.  113. 

42  Ibid,  Relation  en  l’Annee,  1639,  p.  95. 

4S  Sagard  Theodat,  Vol.  I,  p.  213. 

44  Shea’s  Hennepin,  p.  300. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


23 


and  all  came  up  of  the  same  color,  the  throw  counted 
five.45  If  five  of  them  were  of  the  same  color  it  counted 
one.  Any  lower  number  failed  to  count.  If  the  caster 
was  unsuccessful  he  gave  place  to  another,  but  so  long 
as  he  continued  to  win  his  side  would  retain  him  in  that 
position.46 

The  game  was  often  ushered  in  with  singing.  Like  la- 
crosse it  was  prescribed  as  a remedy  for  sickness  or  in 
consequence  of  dreams,  and  the  sufferer  in  whose  behalf 
the  game  was  played  was  borne  to  the  cabin  in  which  it 
was  to  take  place.  Preliminary  fasting  and  continence 
were  observed,  and  every  effort  made  that  superstition 
could  suggest  to  discover  who  would  be  the  lucky  thrower 
and  who  could  aid  the  caster  by  his  presence  at  the  con- 
test. Old  men,  unable  to  walk  thither,  were  brought  up 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  young  men  that  their  presence 
might  be  propitious  to  the  chances  of  the  game.47  The 
excitement  which  attended  one  of  these  games  of  chance 
was  intense,  especially  when  the  game  reached  a critical 
point  and  some  particular  throw  was  likely  to  terminate 
it.  Charlevoix  says  the  games  often  lasted  for  five  or  six 
days48  and  oftentimes  the  spectators  concerned  in  the 
game,  " are  in  such  an  agitation  as  to  be  transported  out 
of  themselves  to  such  a degree  that  they  quarrel  and  fight, 
which  never  happens  to  the  Hurons,  except  on  these  occa- 
sions or  when  they  are  drunk.” 

Perhaps  rum  was  responsible  also  for  these  quarrels ; 
for  in  the  early  accounts  we  are  told  that  losses  were  phil- 
osophically accepted.  Father  Brebeuf  tells  of  a party 


45  Among  the  Delawares  it  required  eight  counts  of  five  to  win.  History  of  the 
Mission  of  theUnited  Brethren  among  the  Indians,  etc.,  G.  H.Loskiel.  Translated 
by  C.  I.  Latrobe.  Part  I,  Ch.  vm,  p.  106. 

46  Charlevoix,  Vol.m,  p.  261.  47 Ibid,  p.  262. 

48Loskiel  (p.  106)  saw  a game  between  two  Iroquois  towns  which  lasted  eight 
days.  Sacrifices  for  luck  were  offered  by  the  sides  each  night. 


24 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


who  had  lost  their  leggings  at  one  of  these  games  and  who 
returned  to  their  village  in  three  feet  of  snow  as  cheerful 
in  appearance  as  if  they  had  won.  There  seems  to  have 
been  no  limit  to  which  they  would  not  go  in  their  stakes 
while  under  the  excitement  of  the  game.  Clothing,  wife, 
family  and  sometimes  the  personal  liberty  of  the  player 
himself  rested  in  the  hazard  of  the  die.49 

The  women  often  played  the  game  by  themselves,  though 
apparently  with  less  formality  than  characterized  the  great 
matches.  The  latter  frequently  assumed  the  same  local 
characteristics  that  we  have  seen  in  the  game  of  lacrosse, 
and  we  hear  of  village  being  pitted  against  village  as  a 
frequent  feature  of  the  game.50 

Morgan51  describes  a game  played  by  the  Iroquois 
with  buttons  or  dice  made  of  elk-horn,  rounded  and  pol- 
ished and  blackened  on  one  side.  The  players  spread  a 
blanket  on  the  ground ; and  the  dice  were  tossed  with  the 
hand  in  the  air  and  permitted  to  fall  on  the  blanket.  The 
counts  were  determined  as  in  the  game  of  platter  by  the 
color  of  the  sides  of  the  dice  which  were  exposed  when  they 
settled.  The  number  of  the  dice  was  eight. 

In  Perrot’s52  description  of  the  game  of  platter  he  al- 
ludes to  a game,  played  with  eight  dice,  on  a blanket  in 
precisely  this  way,  but  he  adds  that  it  was  practised  by 
women  and  girls.  La  Potherie53  says  that  the  women 
sometimes  play  at  platter,  but  ordinarily  they  cast  the 
fruit  stones  with  the  hand  as  one  throws  dice. 

Under  the  name  of  "hubbub”  this  game  has  also  been 


40  Charlevoix,  Vol.  ill,  p.  261.  Le  Grand  Voyage  dll  Pays  des  Hurons,  par  Ga- 
briel Sagard  Theodat,  Paris,  1632,  Nonvelle  Edition,  Paris,  1865,  p.  85;  Relations 
de  J^suites,  Relation  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  en  l’Anu^e  1639,  pp.  95-96;  Lafltau, 
Vol.  II,  p.  341. 

60  Perrot,  p.  43;  Uistoire  du  Canada,  par  F.  X.  Garneau,  Vol.  i,  p.  115. 

01  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  302.  Perrot,  p.  50.  63  j,a  Potherie,  Vol.  hi,  p.  23. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


25 


described  by  observers  among  the  Abenakis.  Ogilby54 
says  : " Hubbub  is  five  small  Bones  in  a small  Tray ; the 
Bones  be  like  a Die,  but  something  flatter,  black  on  the 
one  side  and  white  on  the  other,  which  they  place  on 
the  Ground,  against  which  violently  thumping  the  Platter, 
the  Bones  mount,  changing  Colour  with  the  windy  whisking 
of  their  Hands  to  and  fro  ; which  action  in' that  sport  they 
much  use,  smiting  themselves  on  the  Breasts  and  Thighs, 
crying  out  Hub  Hub  Hub ; they  may  be  heard  playing  at 
this  game  a quarter  of  a mile  off.  The  Bones  being  all 
black  or  white  make  a double  Game ; if  three  of  one 
colour,  and  two  of  another,  then  they  afford  but  a single 
game  ; four  of  a colour  and  one  differing  is  nothing.  So 
long  as  the  Man  wins  he  keeps  the  Tray,  but  if  he  lose 
the  next  Man  takes  it.” 

There  is  but  little  said  about  this  game  in  the  south  by 
writers.  It  evidently  had  no  such  hold  there  as  among 
the  Hurons  and  the  tribes  along  the  Lakes.  Lawson55  saw 
it  played  in  North  Carolina  with  persimmon  stones  as 
dice.  While  this  fixes  the  fact  that  the  game  had  a home 
among  the  southern  Indians,  the  way  in  which  it  has  been 
slighted  by  the  majority  of  writers  who  treat  of  that  sec- 
tion shows  that  it  was  not  a favorite  game  there. 

To  what  shall  we  ascribe  this  ? Its  hold  upon  the  north- 
ern Indians  shows  that  it  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
temperament  of  the  natives,  and  we  should  naturally  ex- 
pect to  find  it  as  much  in  use  among  the  tribes  of  the 
south  as  with  those  of  the  north.  An  explanation  for 
this  may  possibly  be  found  in  the  difference  of  the  cli- 
mate. The  game  was  especially  adapted  for  the  winter, 
and  while  its  practice  was  evidently  not  exclusively  con- 


64  America,  being  an  Accurate  Description  of  the  New  World,  etc.  Collected 
and  Translated  by  John  Ogilby.  London,  1670.  Book  n,  Ch.  n,  p.  155. 

56  History  of  North  Carolina  by  John  Lawson,  London,  1718,  p.  176. 

4 


26 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


fined  to  that  season,  it  is  possible  that  its  greater  hold  upon 
the  affections  of  the  Indians  of  the  north  arose  from  their 
being  obliged  to  resort  to  in-door  amusements  during  the 
protracted  winters  in  that  region.  From  this  necessity 
the  southern  Indians  being  in  a measure  exempt,  they 
continued  their  out-door  games  as  usual  and  never  became 
so  thoroughly  infatuated  with  this  game. 

Informal  contests  were  often  held  between  players,  in 
which  the  use  of  the  bowl  or  platter  was  dispensed  with. 
The  dice  were  held  in  the  hand  and  then  tossed  in  the  air. 
They  were  allowed  to  fall  upon  some  prepared  surface, 
generally  a deerskin  spread  for  the  purpose.  The  same 
rules  as  to  the  color  of  the  surfaces  of  the  dice  when  they 
settled  in  their  places  governed  the  count.  This  form  of 
the  game  is  sometimes  described  as  a separate  game. 
Boucher56  calls  it  Paquessen ,57  The  women  of  Oregon 
played  it  with  marked  beaver  teeth.58  Among  the  Twa- 
nas  it  was  played  with  beaver  or  muskrat  teeth.69  Pow- 
ers60 says  that  among  the  Nishinams,  a tribe  living  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  between  the  Yuba  and  Cos- 
um nes  rivers,  " a game  of  dice  is  played  by  men  or  women, 
two,  three  or  four  together.  The  dice,  four  in  number, 
consist  of  two  acorns  split  lengthwise  into  halves,  with  the 
outsides  scraped  and  painted  red  or  black.  They  are  shak- 
en in  the  hand  and  thrown  into  a wide  flat  basket,  woven 
in  ornamental  patterns.  One  paint  and  three  whites,  or 


6«True  and  Genuine  Description  of  New  France,  etc.,  by  Pierre  Boucher,  Paris, 
1644.  Translated  under  title  “Canada  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,”  Montreal,  1883, 
p.  57. 

57Played  by  women  and  girls.  Sagard  Theodat,  Histoire  du  Canada,  Vol.  i,  p. 
244. 

“Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  I,  p.  206,  George  Gibbs; 
H.  H.  Bancroft’s  Native  Races,  Vol.  I,  p.  244;  The  Northwest  Coast  by  James 
G.  Swan,  p.  158. 

69  Bulletin,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  Vol.  in,  No.  1,  April  5,  1877.  Rev.  M.  Eels. 
6°  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  ill,  p.  332. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


27 


vice  versa,  score  nothing ; two  of  each  score  one  ; four  alike 
score  four.  The  thrower  keeps  on  throwing  until  he  makes 
a blank  throw,  when  another  takes  the  dice.  When  all 
the  players  have  stood  their  turn,  the  one  who  has  scored 
the  most  takes  the  stakes.” 

The  women  of  the  Yokuts,61  a Californian  tribe  which 
lived  in  the  San  Joaquin  valley  near  Tulare  Lake,  had  a 
similar  game.  Each  die  was  half  a large  acorn  or  walnut 
shell  filled  with  pitch  and  powdered  charcoal  and  inlaid 
with  bits  of  bright  colored  abaloni  shell.  Four  squaws 
played  and  a fifth  kept  tally  with  fifteen  sticks.  There 
were  eight  dice  and  they  scooped  them  up  with  their  hands 
and  dashed  them  into  the  basket,  counting  one  when  two 
or  five  flat  surfaces  turned  up. 

Schoolcraft62  says  "one  of  the  principal  amusements  of 
a sedentary  character  is  that  of  various  games,  success  in 
which  depends  on  luck  in  numbers.  These  games,  to  which 
both  the  prairie  and  forest  tribes  are  addicted,  assume  the 
fascination  and  intensity  of  gambling  ; and  the  most  valued 
articles  are  often  staked  upon  the  luck  of  a throw.  For 
this  purpose  the  prairie  tribes  commonly  use  the  stones  of 
the  wild  plum  or  some  analogous  fruit,  upon  which  various 
devices  indicating  their  arithmetical  value  are  burned  in, 
or  engraved  and  colored,  so  as  at  a glance  to  reveal  the 
character  of  the  pieces.”  Among  the  Dacota  tribes  this  is 
known  by  a term  which  is  translated  the  "game  of  plum 
stones.”  He  gives  illustrations  of  the  devices  on  five  sets 
of  stones,  numbering  eight  each.  "To  play  this  game  a 
little  orifice  is  made  in  the  ground  and  a skin  put  in  it ; 
olten  it  is  also  played  on  a robe.”63  The  women  and  the 
young  men  play  this  game.  The  bowl  is  lifted  with  one 


B1  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  377. 

02  Schoolcraft’s  Indian  Tribes,  Vol.  II,  pp.  71,  72. 

63  Domenech,  Vol.  n,  p.  191;  First  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
Smithsonian,  1881,  p.  195. 


28 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


hand  and  rudely  pushed  down  to  its  place.  The  plum 
stones  fly  over  several  times.  The  stake  is  first  put  up  by 
all  who  wish  to  play.  A dozen  can  play  at  once  if  desirable. 

Schoolcraft64  describes  still  another  form  of  the  game 
which  he  found  among  the  Chippewas,  in  which  thirteen 
pieces  or  dice  were  used.  Nine  of  them  were  of  bone  and 
were  fashioned  in  figures  typifying  fish,  serpents,  etc. 
One  side  of  each  was  painted  red  and  had  dots  burned  in 
with  a hot  iron.  The  brass  pieces  were  circular  having  one 
side  convex  and  the  other  concave.  The  convex  side 
was  bright,  the  concave  dark  or  dull.  The  red  pieces  were 
the  winning  pieces  and  each  had  an  arithmetical  value. 
Any  number  of  players  might  play.  A wooden  bowl, 
curiously  carved  and  ornamented,  was  used.  This  form 
of  the  game  may  have  been  modified  by  contact  with  the 
whites.  It  seems  to  be  the  most  complex65  form  in  which 
the  game  appears.  The  fact  still  remains  however,  that 
in  some  form  or  other  we  find  the  game  in  use  across  the 
entire  breadth  of  the  continent.66 


STRAW  OR  INDIAN  CARDS. 

The  third  game  mentioned  by  Father  Brebeuf  was  that 
which  was  called  straw.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  of 
these  games  called  for  strength,  agility  and  endurance.  It 
was  as  free  from  elements  of  chance  as  any  human  contest 


M Vol.  n,  p.  72.  ' 

«6  See  also  a simpler  form  of  the  game  described  by  Philander  Prescott  among 
the  Dacotas.— Schoolcraft,  Vol.  iv,  p.  64.  The  tendency  of  the  modern  Indians  to 
elaborate  the  game  maybe  traced  in  the  description  of  “Plumstone  shooting” 
given  in  “ Omaha  Sociology”  by  Rev.  J.  Owen  Dorsey.  Third  Annual  Report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Wash- 
ington, 1884,  p.  335. 

66  Col.  James  Smith  describes  the  game  among  the  Wyandots.  An  Account  ot 
the  Remarkable  Occurrences  in  the  Life  and  Travels  of  Col.  James  Smith,  during 
his  Captivity  with  the  Indians  in  the  Years  1755-1759.  Cincinnati,  1870,  p.  46. 
Tanner  also  describes  it.  lie  calls  it  Leg-ga-sah  or  dice.  Tanner’s  Narrative,  New 
York,  1830,  p.  114. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


29 


can  be.  The  victory  belonged  to  the  side  which  counted 
amongst  its  numbers  those  players  who  were  the  fleetest 
runners,  the  most  skilful  throwers  and  the  most  adroit  dodg- 
ers. The  second  was  purely  a game  of  chance.  If  hon- 
estly played  no  other  element  entered  into  its  composition. 
The  third  which  we  are  now  about  to  consider  was  much 
more  complicated  in  its  rules  than  either  of  the  others.  It 
closely  resembled  in  some  respects  several  of  our  modern 
gambling  games.  The  French  found  it  very  difficult  to 
comprehend  and  hence  the  accounts  of  it  which  they  have 
given  are  often  confused  and  perplexing.  Boucher67  says, 
"Our  French  people  have  not  yet  been  able  to  learn  to 
play  it  well ; it  is  full  of  spirit  and  these  straws  are  to 
the  Indians  what  cards  are  to  us.”  Lafitau68  after  quoting 
from  Boucher  says,  "Baron  de  la  Hontan  also  made  out  of 
it  a game  purely  of  the  mind  and  of  calculation,  in  which 
he  who  best  knows  how  to  add  and  subtract,  to  multiply 
and  divide  with  these  straws  will  surely  win.  To  do  this, 
use  and  practice  are  necessary,  for  these  savages  are  noth- 
ing less  than  good  calculators.” 

" Sieur  Perrot,  who  was  a celebrated  traveller,  and  that 
European  whom  the  savages  of  New  France  have  most 
honored,  left  a description  of  this  game  in  his  manuscript 
Memorial.  I would  gladly  have  inserted  it  here  but  it  is 
so  obscure  that  it  is  nearly  unintelligible*”  Charlevoix  ad- 
mits that  he  could  understand  nothing  of  the  game,  ex- 
cept as  played  by  two  persons  in  its  simplest  form  and 
adds  that  he  was  told  that  " there  was  as  much  of  art  as 
of  chance  in  the  game  and  that  the  Indians  are  great  cheats 
at  it.”69 


67  p.  57.  «8Vol.  II,  p.351. 

99  Charlevoix,  Vol.  in,  p.  319;  Father  Tailhan  who  edited  Perrot  says  he  has 
not  been  any  more  successful  than  his  predecessors  and  the  game  of  straws  re- 
mains to  him  an  unsolved  enigma.  Perrot,  Notes  to  Ch.  x,  p.^188. 


30 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


Where  Lafitau  and  Charlevoix,  aided  by  opportunities 
to  investigate  the  game  itself,  have  failed,  it  would  seem  to 
be  useless  for  us  to  attempt.  Perrot  has  indeed  succeeded 
in  making  his  account  hopelessly  involved.  There  is 
however  much  information  to  be  derived  from  it  and  the 
obscure  points  are  after  all  unimportant  unless  one  should 
actually  wish  to  reproduce  the  game  in  practice.  In  that 
event  there  are  many  points  connected  with  the  counts 
which  would  prove  troublesome. 

To  play  the  game,  a number  of  straws  or  reeds  uniform 
in  size  and  of  equal  length  were  required.  They  were 
generally  from  six  to  ten  inches  long.  The  number  used 
in  the  game  was  arbitrary.  Lawson  puts  it  at  fifty-one. 
Charlevoix  at  two  hundred  and  one.  The  only  essential 
points  were  that  the  numbers  should  be  odd  and  that  there 
should  be  enough  of  them  so  that  when  the  pile  was  divid- 
ed into  two  parts,  a glance  would  not  reveal  which  of  the 
two  divisions  contained  the  odd  number  of  straws.  In  its 
simplest  form,  the  game  consisted,  in  separating  the  heap 
of  straws  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  each  player  took, 
and  he  whose  pile  contained  the  odd  number  of  straws 
was  the  winner.  Before  the  division  was  made  the  straws 
were  subjected  to  a manipulation,  somewhat  after  the  man- 
ner of  shuffling  cards.  They  were  then  placed  upon  the 
deer-skin  or  upon  whatever  other  article  was  selected  as  a 
surface  on  which  to  play.  The  player  who  was  to  make  the 
division  into  two  heaps,  with  many  contortions  of  the  body 
and  throwing  about  of  the  arms,  and  with  constant  utter- 
ances to  propitiate  his  good  luck,  would  make  a division 
of  the  straws  with  a pointed  bone  or  some  similar  instru- 
ment, himself  taking  one  of  the  divisions  while  his  adver- 
sary took  the  other.  They  would  then  rapidly  separate 
the  straws  into  parcels  numbering  ten  each  and  determine 
from  the  fractional  remainders,  who  had  the  odd  number. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


31 


The  speed  with  which  this  process  of  counting  was  car- 
ried on  was  always  a source  of  wonder  to  the  lookers-on, 
and  the  fact  that  the  counting  was  done  by  tens  is  almost 
invariably  mentioned . Between  two  people  betting  simply 
on  the  odd  number  no  further  rules  were  necessary.  To 
determine  which  had  the  heap  containing  the  odd  number, 
there  was  no  need  to  foot  up  the  total  number  of  tens.  It 
was  to  be  settled  by  what  was  left  over  after  the  last  pile 
of  complete  tens  was  set  aside.  The  number  itself  might  be 
either  one,  three,  five,  seven  or  nine.  In  the  more  compli- 
cated form  of  the  game,  this  led  to  giving  different  values 
to  these  numbers,  the  nine  being  always  supreme  and  the 
one  on  which  the  highest  bets  were  wagered.  It  was  gen- 
erally understood  that  the  holder  of  this  number  swept  the 
board  taking  all  bets  on  other  numbers  as  well  as  those  on 
the  nine.  It  was  easy  to  bet  beads  against  beads  and  skins 
against  skins,  in  a simple  game  of  odd  or  even,  but  when 
the  element  of  different  values  for  different  combinations 
was  introduced,  some  medium  of  exchange  was  needed  to 
relieve  the  complications.  Stones  of  fruit  were  employed 
just  as  chips  or  counters  are  used  in  modern  gambling 
games,  and  a regular  bank  was  practically  instituted. 
Each  player  took  a certain  number  of  these  counters,  as 
the  equivalent  of  the  value  of  the  merchandise  which  he 
proposed  to  hazard  on  the  game,  whether  it  was  a gun,  a 
blanket,  or  some  other  article.  Here  we  have  all  the 
machinery  of  a regular  gambling  game  at  cards,  but  the 
resemblance  does  not  stop  here.  The  players  put  up  their 
bets  precisely  as  they  now  do  in  a game  of  faro,  selecting 
their  favorite  number  and  fixing  the  amount,  measured  in 
the  standard  of  the  game,  which  they  wished  to  hazard. 
" By  the  side  of  the  straws  which  are  on  the  ground  are 
found  the  ( grains ) counters,”  says  Perrot,  " which  the 
players  have  bet  on  the  game.”  In  another  place,  the 


32 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


method  of  indicating  the  bets  is  stated  as  follows  : "he 
(meaning  apparently  the  one  who  has  bet)  is  also  obliged 
to  make  two  other  heaps.  In  one  he  will  place  five,  in  the 
other  seven  straws,  with  as  many  ( grains ) counters  as  he 
pleases.”  These  phrases  may  fairly  be  interpreted  to  mean 
that  a record  of  the  bets,  somewhat  of  the  same  style  as 
that  kept  with  counters  upon  a faro  table,  was  constantly 
before  the  players.  Complicated  rules  determined  when 
the  players  won  or  lost ; when  the  bets  were  to  be  doubled 
and  when  they  were  to  abide  the  chance  of  another  count. 
The  loser  at  the  game,  even  after  all  that  he  had  with  him 
was  gone,  was  sometimes  permitted  to  continue  the  game 
on  his  promise  to  pay.  If  ill  luck  still  pursued  him  the 
winner  could  refuse  him  credit  and  decline  to  play  for 
stakes  that  he  could  not  see. 

The  game  often  lasted  for  several  days,  one  after  an- 
other of  the  sides  relieving  his  comrades  at  the  play  until 
one  of  the  two  sides  had  lost  everything,  it  being,  says 
Perrot,70  " a maxim  of  the  savages  not  to  quit  play  until 
one  side  or  the  other  had  lost  everything.”  Those  who 
had  bet  at  the  game  had  the  right  to  substitute  any  person 
whom  they  pleased  to  play  for  them.  "Should  any  dis- 
pute arise  on  this  point,”  says  Perrot,  "between  the 
winners  and  the  losers,  the  disputants  backed  by  their  re- 
spective sides  would  probably  come  to  blows,  blood  would 
be  shed  and  the  whole  thing  would  be  very  difficult  to 
settle.”  Cheating  often  took  place  at  this  game.  Its  ex- 
posure was  considered  praiseworthy  and  its  practice  de- 
nounced. If  doubts  were  expressed  as  to  the  accuracy  of 
a count,  the  matter  was  peacefully  adjusted  by  a re-count 
by  two  of  the  spectators. 

" This  game  of  straw,”  says  Perrot,  from  whose  ac- 


7°  p.  49. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


33 


count  we  have  made  the  foregoing  digest,  " is  ordinarily 
held  in  the  cabins  of  the  chiefs,  which  are  large,  and  are, 
so  to  speak,  the  Academy  of  the  Savages.”  He  concludes 
his  account  with  the  statement  that  the  women  never  play 
it.71  The  authority  on  this  game  whom  Ogilby  quotes 
slides  over  the  difficulties  of  the  description  with  the  state- 
ment that  " many  other  whimsies  be  in  this  game  which 
would  be  too  long  to  commit  to  paper.”  Abbe  Ferland72 
epitomizes  the  results  of  his  investigation  of  this  game 
as  follows : " Memory,  calculation  and  quickness  of  eye- 
sight were  necessary  for  success.” 

Like  the  game  of  dice  or  platter  it  was  essentially  a 
Douse  game,  and  like  platter  it  is  rarely  mentioned  by 
writers  who  describe  the  habits  of  Indians  in  the  south. 
Lawson  describes  it,  but  in  slightly  modified  form,  as  fol- 
lows : " Indian  Cards.  Their  chiefest  game  is  a sort  of 
Arithmetick,  which  is  managed  by  a parcel  of  small  split 
reeds,  the  thickness  of  a small  Bent;  these  are  made  very 
nicely,  so  that  they  part,  and  are  tractable  in  their  hands. 
They  are  fifty-one  in  number,  their  length  about  seven 
inches  ; when  they  play,  they  throw  part  of  them  to  their 
antagonist ; the  art  is,  to  discover,  upon  sight,  how  many 
you  have,  and  what  you  throw  to  him  that  plays  with  you. 
Some  are  so  expert  at  their  numbers,  that  they  will  tell 
ten  times  together,  what  they  throw  out  of  their  hands. 
Although  the  whole  play  is  carried  on  with  the  quickest 
motion  it  is  possible  to  use,  yet  some  are  so  expert  at  this 
Game,  as  to  win  great  Indian  Estates  by  this  Play.  A 
good  sett  of  these  reeds,  fit  to  play  withal  are  valued  and 
sold  for  a dressed  doe-skin.” 

A.  W.  Chase73  speaks  of  " native  games  of  cards 

71  See  also  Shea’s  Hennepin,  p.  300.  72  Vol.  I,  p.  134. 

7SOverland  Monthly,  Vol.  ii,  p.  433.  Dorsey  found  a survival  of  the  game  iu 
use  among  the  Omahas.  He  called  it  “stick  counting.”  Third  Annual  Report, 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  338. 

5 


34 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


among  the  Coquelles  and  Makneatanas,  the  pasteboards 
being  bundles  of  sticks.”  He  furnishes  no  description  of 
the  games,  but  uses  the  same  phrase  which  was  applied  by 
Lawson  in  North  Carolina  and  by  Boucher  in  Canada. 

Frank  H.  Cushing74  speaks  of  a game  of  " Cane-cards  ” 
among  the  Zuni  which  he  says  " would  grace  the  most 
civilized  society  with  a refined  source  of  amusement.”  He 
was  not  able  fully  to  comprehend  it. 

In  the  list  of  games,  there  is  none  of  which  we  have 
any  detailed  account,  which  compares  with  straws  as 
played  by  the  northern  tribes,  in  elaborateness  of  con- 
struction. The  unfortunate  confusion  which  prevails 
throughout  Perrot  s description  ot  the  method  of  counting, 
and  the  way  in  which  the  point  was  shirked  by  all  other 
writers  on  the  subject,  prevents  any  attempt  at  analysis. 
So  tar  as  we  can  see,  the  rules  were  arbitrary  and  not 
based  upon  any  calculations  of  the  laws  of  chance.  If 
some  other  detailed  account  of  the  game  should  be  discov- 
ered it  would  be  interesting  to  follow  up  this  question 
and  ascertain  how  far  the  different  combinations  which 
affected  the  counts  were  based  upon  a theory  of  probabili- 
ties and  how  far  they  were  arbitrary. 

It  will  of  course  be  noticed  that  the  game  described  by 
Lawson  was  relieved  from  much  of  this  complication. 
The  dexterity  required  to  make  a throw  of  such  a nature 
that  the  player  could  tell  exactly  the  number  of  reeds 
with  which  he  had  parted,  was  of  course  remarkable  and 
naturally  called  forth  expressions  of  surprise.  But  there 
were  apparently  no  other  combinations  resting  upon  the 
throw  than  the  simple  guess  at  the  number  thrown.  Trav- 
ellers in  California  have  described  the  game  in  still  sim- 
pler form  in  which  we  see  hints  of  the  more  complex 


74 The  Century,  Vol.  xxvi,  p.  38.  My  Adventures  in  Zuni. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


35 


game.  Here  the  " sticks”  were  thrown  in  the  air  and  an 
immediate  guess  was  made  whether  the  number  thrown 
was  odd  or  even.  An  umpire  kept  the  account  with 
other  sticks  and  on  this  count  the  bets  were  adjusted.75 

Wherever  we  find  it  and  whatever  the  form  in  use, 
whether  simple  or  complicated,  like  games  of  lacrosse  and 
platter  the  occasion  of  its  play  was  but  an  excuse  for  in- 
dulgence in  the  inveterate  spirit  of  gambling  which  every- 
where prevailed. 

CHUNKEE  Otf  HOOP  AND  POLE. 

Among  the  Indians  at  the  south,  observers  noted  and 
described  a game  of  great  antiquity,  of  which  we  have  no 
record  during  historical  times  among  those  of  the  north, 
unless  we  should  classify  the  game  of  javelin  described  by 
Morgan76  as  a modified  form  of  the  same  game.  The  gen- 
eral  name  by  which  this  game  was  known  was  chunkee. 
When  Iberville  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  he 
despatched  a party  to  explore  the  river.  The  officer  who 
kept  the  "Journal  de  la  fregate,  le  Marin”  was  one  of  that 
party  and  he  recorded  the  fact  that  the  Bayagoulas  and 
Mougoulachas  passed  the  greater  part  of  their  time  in 
playing  in  this  place  with  great  sticks  which  they  throw 
after  a little  stone,  which  is  nearly  round  and  like  a bul- 
let.77 Father  Gravier  descended  the  river  in  1700  and  at 
the  village  of  Houmas  he  saw  a "fine  level  square  where 
from  morning  to  night  there  are  young  men  who  exercise 


76  Kotzebue,  A Voyage  of  Discovery,  etc.  London,  1821.  Vol.  i,  p.  282  and  Vol. 
m,  p.  44,  note.  W.  H.  Emory,  U.  S.  and  Mexican  Boundary  Survey,  Vol.  i,  p.  Ill, 
says : '*  The  Yumas  played  a game  with  sticks  like  jackstraws.”  Stanley,  Smith- 
sonian Miscellaneous  Collections,  Vol.  ir,  p.55,  gives  among  his  “Portraits  of 
North  American  Indians,”  a picture  of  a game  which  he  describes  as  “ played  ex- 
clusively by  women.  They  hold  in  their  hands  twelve  sticks  about  six  inches  in 
length  which  they  drop  upon  a rock.  The  sticks  that  fall  across  each  other  are 
counted  lor  game.” 

76  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  .300.  77Margry,  Deoouvertes,  etc.,  Vol.  4,  p.  201. 


36 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


themselves  in  running  after  a flat  stone  which  they  throw 
in  the  air  from  one  end  of  the  square  to  the  other,  and 
which  they  try  to  have  fall  on  two  cylinders  that  they  roll 
where  they  think  the  stone  will  fall.”78  Adair  gives  the 
following  description  of  the  same  game : "The  warriors 
have  another  favorite  game,  called  ' chungke\  which,  with 
propriety  of  language  may  be  called  'Running  hard  labour.’ 
They  have  near  their  state  house79  a square  piece  of  ground 
well  cleaned,  and  fine  sand  is  carefully  strewed  over  it, 
when  requisite,  to  promote  a swifter  motion  to  what  they 
throw  along  the  surface.  Only  one  or  two  on  a side  play 
at  this  ancient  game.  They  have  a stone  about  two  fingers 
broad  at  the  edge  and  two  spans  round ; each  party  has  a 
pole  of  about  eight  feet  long,  smooth,  and  tapering  at  each 
end,  the  points  flat.  They  set  offabreast  of  each  other  at 
six  yards  from  the  end  of  the  playground  ; then  one  of 
them  hurls  the  stone  on  its  edge,  in  as  direct  a line  as  he 
can,  a considerable  distance  toward  the  middle  of  the  other 
end  of  the  square.  When  they  have  run  a few  yards,  each 
darts  his  pole  anointed  with  bears’  oil,  with  a proper  force, 
as  near  as  he  can  guess  in  proportion  to  the  motion  of  the 
stone,  that  the  end  may  lie  close  to  the  stone.  When  this 
is  the  case,  the  person  counts  two  of  the  game,  and,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  nearness  of  the  poles  to  the  mark,  one  is 
counted,  unless  by  measuring,  both  are  found  to  be  at  an 
equal  distance  from  the  stone.  In  this  manner,  the  play- 
ers will  keep  running  most  part  of  the  day,  at  half  speed, 
under  the  violent  heat  of  the  sun,  staking  their  silver  or- 
naments, their  nose-,  finger-  and  ear-rings  ; their  breast-, 
arm-  and  wrist-plates,  and  even  all  their  wearing  apparel, 
except  that  which  barely  covers  their  middle.  All  the 


78  Shea’s  Early  Voyages,  Albany,  1861,  p.  143. 

79  Consult  E.  G.  Squier. — Aboriginal  Monuments  of  N.  Y.,  Smithsonian  Contri- 
butions to  Knowledge,  Vol.  II,  pp.  135-6  and  note  p.  136. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


37 


American  Indians  are  much  addicted  to  this  game,  which 
to  us  appears  to  be  a task  of  stupid  drudgery ; it  seems, 
however,  to  be  of  early  origin,  when  their  forefathers  used 
diversions  as  simple  as  their  manners.  The  hurling  stones 
they  use  at  present  were  from  time  immemorial  rubbed 
smooth  on  the  rocks  and  with  prodigious  labor ; and  they 
are  kept  with  the  strictest  religious  care,  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another,  and  are  exempted  from  being  buried  with 
the  dead.  They  belong  to  the  town  where  they  are 
used,  and  are  carefully  preserved.”80 

Lieut.  Timberlake81  describes  the  game  as  he  saw  it 
played  among  the  Cherokees  where  it  was  known  by  the 
name  of  " Nettecawaw.”  "Each  player  has  a pole  about 
ten  feet  long,  with  several  marks  or  divisions.  One  of 
them  bowls  a round  stone  with  one  flat  side,  and  the  other 
convex,  on  which  the  players  all  dart  their  poles  after  it, 
and  the  nearest  counts  according  to  the  vicinity  of  the  bowl 
to  the  marks  on  his  pole.  ” 

Romans  saw  it  among  the  Choctaws.  He  says,  "The 
manner  of  playing  the  game  is  thus  : they  make  an  alley 
of  about  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  where  a very  smooth 
clayey  ground  is  laid,  which  when  dry  is  very  hard  : they 
play  two  together  having  each  a straight  pole  about  fifteen 
feet  long ; one  holds  a stone  which  is  in  the  shape  of  a 
truck,  which  he  throws  before  him  over  this  alley,  and  the 
instant  of  its  departure,  they  set  off  and  run  ; in  running 
they  cast  their  poles  after  the  stone  ; he  that  did  not  throw 
it  endeavors  to  hit  it ; the  other  strives  to  strike  the  pole 
of  his  antagonist  in  its  flight  so  as  to  prevent  the  pole  of 
his  opponent  hitting  the  stone.  If  the  first  should  strike 
the  stone  he  counts  one  for  it,  and  if  the  other  by  the 


80  See  also  Historical  Collections,  Louisiana  and  Florida.  B.  F.  French  [Vol. 
II.],  second  series,  p.  74.  New  York,  1875. 

8tMcmoirs  of  Lieut.  Henry  Timberlake,  etc.,  London,  1765,  p.  77. 


38 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


dexterity  of  his  cast  should  prevent  the  pole  of  his  oppo- 
nent hitting  the  stone,  he  counts  one,  but  should  both  miss 
their  aim  the  throw  is  renewed.” 

Le  Page  du  Pratz82  describes  the  game  as  practised 
among  the  Natchez.  He  calls  it  " Le  Jeu  de  la  Perche  which 
would  be  better  named  de  la  crossed  Dumont  who  was 
stationed  at  Natchez  and  also  on  the  Yazoo,  describes  the 
game  and  speaks  of  it  as  "La  Crosse.”83 

Adair  is  correct  when  he  speaks  of  the  antiquity  of  this 
game.  When  he  dwells  upon  the  fact  that  these  stones  are 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  as  the  prop- 
erty of  the  village,  he  brings  these  tribes  close  to  the 
mound  dwellers.  Squier,84  speaking  of  discoidal  stones, 
found  in  the  mounds,  sa}Ts,  "It  is  known  that  among  the 
Indian  tribes  of  the  Ohio  and  along  the  Gulf,  such  stones 
were  in  common  use  in  certain  favorite  games.”  Lucien 
Carr85  describes  and  pictures  a chunkee  stone  from  Ely 
Mound,  Ya.  Lewis  and  Clarke86  describe  the  game  as 
played  among  the  Mandans.  This  tribe  had  a wooden 
platform  prepared  on  the  ground  between  two  of  their 
lodges.  Along  this  platform  the  stone  ring  was  rolled  and 
the  sticks  were  slid  along  the  floor  in  pursuit  of  it.  Catlin87 
describes  the  game  as  played  by  the  same  tribe.  They 
had  a carefully  prepared  pavement  of  clay  on  which  they 
played.  The  "Tchunkee”  sticks  were  marked  with  bits  of 
leather  and  the  counts  of  the  game  were  affected  by  the 
position  of  the  leather  on  or  near  which  the  ring  lodged. 


82  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  Paris,  1758,  Vol.  ill,  p.  2. 

88  Memoires  Ilistoriques  sur  la  Louisiane,  Paris,  1753,  Vol.  I,  p.  202. 

84  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  223. 

86 10th  Annual  Report  Peabody  Museum,  p.  93.  See  also  Schoolcraft’s  Indian 
tribes,  Vol.  i,  p.  83. 

80 Lewis  and  Clarke’s  Expedition,  Phila.,  1814,  Vol.  I,  p.  143. 

87  Vol.  i,  p.  132  et  seq.  Dorsey  describes  two  forms  of  the  game  in  use  among 
the  Omahas : “shooting  at  the  rolling  wheel ’’and  “stick  and  ring”  Third  An- 
nual Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  335-336.  cf.  Travels  in  the  Interior  of 
America,  in  the  years  1809, 1810  and  1811,  by  John  Bradbury,  p.  126. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


39 


The  Mojrtves  are  accustomed  to  play  a similar  game 
which  has  been  described  under  the  name  " Hoop  and 
Pole”.88  A similar  game  was  played  by  the  Navajoes.89 

The  Yumas  played  a game  with  two  poles  fifteen  feet 
long  and  a ring  a few  inches  in  diameter.90  Kane91  says 
that  the  Clnialpays  at  Fort  Colville  on  the  Columbia  "have 
a game  which  they  call  ' Alkollock ,’  which  requires  consid- 
erable skill.  A smooth,  level  piece  of  ground  is  chosen, 
and  a slight  barrier  of  a couple  of  sticks  placed  length- 
wise is  laid  at  each  end  of  the  chosen  spot,  being  Irom 
forty  to  fifty  feet  apart  and  only  a few  inches  high.  The 
two  players,  stripped  naked,  are  armed  with  a very  slight 
spear,  about  three  feet  long,  and  finely  pointed  with  bone  ; 
one  of  them  takes  a ring  made  of  bone  or  some  heavy 
wood  and  wound  with  cord.  The  ring  is  about  three 
inches  in  diameter,  on  the  inner  circumference  of  which 
are  fastened  six  beads  of  different  colors,  at  equal  dis- 
tances, to  each  of  which  a separate  value  is  attached. 
The  ring  is  then  rolled  along  the  ground  to  one  of  the 
barriers  and  is  followed  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three 
yards  by  the  players,  and  as  the  ring  strikes  the  barrier 
and  is  tailing  on  its  side,  the  spears  are  thrown,  so  that 
the  ring  may  fall,  on  them.  If  any  one  of  the  spears 
should  be  covered  by  the  ring,  the  owner  counts  according 
to  the  colored  bead  on  it.  But  it  generally  happens  from 
the  dexterity  of  the  players  that  the  ring  covers  both 
spears  and  each  counts  according  to  the  color  of  the  beads 
above  his  spear.  They  then  play  towards  the  other 


88  Lieut.  A.  W.  Whipple  in  Pac.  R.  R.  Rep.,  Vol.  in,  p.  114 ; Harper’s  Mag.,  Vol. 
XVII,  p.463;  Domenech,  Vol.  II,  p.  197;  H.  H.  Bancroft’s  Native  Races,  Vol.  I,  p. 
393,  p.  517  and  note  133.  The  Martial  Experiences  of  the  California  Volunteers  by 
Edward  Carlsen,  Overland,  Vol  vil,  No.  41,  2nd  Series,  p.  494. 

89  Major  E.  A.  Backus  in  Schoolcraft,  Vol.  iv,  p.  214. 

90  W.  II.  Emory,  U.  S.  and  Mexican  Boundary  Survey,  Vol.  I,  p.  111. 

91  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  310;  II.  H.  Bancrolt’s  Native  Races,  Vol.  i,  p.  280. 


40 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


barrier,  and  so  on  until  one  party  has  obtained  the  number 
agreed  upon  for  the  game.” 

In  his  "Life  among  the  Apaches,”92  Colonel  Cremony 
describes  the  hoop  and  pole  game  as  pla}’ed  by  the  Ap- 
aches. With  them  the  pole  is  marked  with  divisions 
throughout  its  whole  length  and  these  divisions  are  stained 
different  colors.  The  object  of  the  game  is  to  make  the 
hoop  fall  upon  the  pole  as  near  the  butt  as  possible,  grad- 
uated values  being  applied  to  the  different  divisions  of  the 
pole.  The  women  are  not  permitted  to  approach  within 
a hundred  yards  while  the  game  is  going  on.93 

Those  who  have  described  this  game  in  the  various 
forms  in  which  it  has  been  presented  dwell  upon  the  fact 
that  it  taxed  the  strength,  activity  and  skill  of  the  play- 
ers. In  this  respect  it  rivalled  lacrosse.  In  geographi- 
cal range  the  territory  in  which  it  was  domesticated  was 
nearly  the  same. 

There  are  many,  doubtless,  who  would  decline  to  rec- 
ognize the  discoidal  stones  of  the  mounds  as  chunkee 
stones,  but  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  " neltecciwaw”  of 
the  Oherokees94,  the  " hoop  and  pole”  of  the  Mojaves 
and  Apaches95,  the  second  form  of  "spear  and  ring”  de- 
scribed by  Domenech,96  the  " alkollock”  of  the  Chualpays97 
and  the  chunkee  of  Romans  and  Adair  are  the  same 
game. 


82  Life  among  the  Apaches,  by  John  C.  Cremony,  p.  302. 

03  The  Hawaiians  were  accustomed  to  hurl  a piece  of  hard  lava  along  narrow 
trenches  prepared  for  the  purpose.  The  stone  which  was  called  Maika  closely 
resembled  a chunkee  stone.  It  is  described  as  being  in  the  shape  of  a small 
wheel  or  roller,  three  inches  in  diameter  and  an  inch  and  a half  thick,  very  smooth 
and  highly  polished.  This  game  appears  to  have  been  limited  to  a contest  of 
skill  in  rolling  or  hurling  the  stone  itself.  The  additional  interest  which  was 
given  by  hurling  the  spears  at  it  while  in  motion  was  wanting.  Narrative  of  the 
U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition  by  Charles  Wilkes,  London,  1845,  Vol.  iv,  p.  55. 

84  Timberlake,  p.  77. 

Whipple,  Pac.  R.  R.  Rep.,  Vol.  ill,  p.  114;  Cremony,  p.  302;  Harper’s  Mag. 
Vol.  xvii,  p.  463. 

86  Domenech,  Vol.  n,  p.  197. 


97  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  310. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


41 


The  change  from  the  discoidal  stone  to  the  ring;  the 
different  materials  of  which  the  ring  is  made,  whether  of 
stone,98  of  bone,99  of  wood,100  or  of  cord  ;101  whether  wound 
with  cord102  or  plain ; the  different  lengths  of  the  spears 
varying  from  three  feet1"  to  ten  feet104  and  even  reaching 
fifteen  feet  in  length  among  the  Mojaves  ;105  the  different 
markings  of  the  spear106  aud  the  ring  ;107  the  different  ways 
of  preparing  the  ground,  whether  tamping  with  clay,108  or 
flooring  with  timber,109  or  simply  removing  the  vegetation,110 
— all  these  minor  differences  are  of  little  consequence. 
The  striking  fact  remains  that  this  great  number  of  tribes, 
so  widely  separated,  all  played  a game  in  which  the  prin- 
cipal requirements  were,  that  a small  circular  disk  should 
be  rolled  rapidly  along  a prepared  surface  and  that  pre- 
pared wooden  implements,  similar  to  spears,  should  be 
launched  at  the  disk  while  in  motion  or  just  at  the  time 
when  it  stopped.  Like  lacrosse,  it  was  made  use  of  as 
an  opportunity  for  gambling,  but  owing  to  the  restriction 
of  the  ground  on  which  it  could  be  played,  the  number  of 
players  were  limited,  and  to  that  extent  the  interest  in  the 
contests  and  the  excitement  attendant  upon  them  were 
proportionally  reduced. 

OTHER  ATHLETIC  GAMES. 

In  addition  to  the  games  of  lacrosse,  platter  or  dice, 
straws  and  chunkee,  there  were  other  games,  some  of  an 
athletic  nature,  some  purely  of  chance,  which  observers 
have  described,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  only  in 


98  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Vol.  I,  p.  143;  Catlin,  Vol.  I,  p.  132. 

99  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  310.  100  Cremony,  p.  302. 

ioi  Whipple,  Pac.  R.  R.  Rep.,  Vol.  in,  p.  114.  102Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  310. 

103  Ibid.  104  Timberlake,  p.  77;  Cremony,  p.  302. 
i°o  Whipple,  Pac.  R.  R.  Rep.,  Vol.  ill,  p.114. 

106  Cremony,  p.302;  Domenech,  Vol.  II,  p.  197;  Timberlake,  p.  77. 

107  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  310.  108  Catlin,  Vol.  I,  p.  132. 

109  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Vol.  i,  p.  143.  110  Domenech,  Vol.  n,  p.  197. 

6 


42 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


limited  areas,  while  others,  like  the  games  above  men- 
tioned, were  played  by  Indians  scattered  over  a wide  ter- 
ritory and  apparently  having  but  little  in  common.  Some 
of  these  games  were  but  modified  forms  of  those  which 
have  been  already  described.  Such,  for  instance,  is  a game 
of  ball  which  is  described  by  Lafitau111  and  by  Charle- 
voix.112 This  closely  resembled  lacrosse  in  its  general 
methods  of  play,  but  as  no  rackets  were  used,  it  was  less 
dangerous  and  less  exciting.  Goals  were  erected  at  each 
end  of  the  field,  separated  by  five  hundred  paces  accord- 
ing to  Lafitau.  The  players  were  divided  into  sides. 
The  ball  was  tossed  into  the  air  in  the  centre  of  the  field. 
When  it  came  down  the  players  of  each  side  strove  to 
catch  it.  He  who  was  successful  ran  in  the  direction  of 
the  goal  which  he  wished  to  reach.  The  players  of  the 
opposide  side  pursued  him  and  did  what  they  could  to 
prevent  him  from  accomplishing  his  object.  When  it 
was  evident  that  the  runner  could  gain  no  more  ground,  he 
would  pass  the  ball,  if  possible,  to  some  player  upon  the 
same  side  and  his  success  in  accomplishing  this  was  de- 
pendent largely  upon  his  skill.  The  game  is  probably 
not  so  old  as  lacrosse,  for  the  ball  is  described  as  beinsr 
larger  and  softer  than  the  one  used  in  lacrosse,  thus  indi- 
cating that  it  belonged  to  the  period  when  the  stuffed 
deer-skin  ball  was  used  in  that  game. 

Both  Dumont  and  Le  Page  du  Pratz  describe  this 
game  with  this  difference,113  that  the  ball,  according  to  their 
descriptions,  was  incessantly  tossed  in  the  air.  Romans 
says  that  this  game  was  played  among  the  women ; and 
Lafitau,  who  describes  it  separately,  adds  that  in  this  form 
it  was  only  played  by  girls.  He  also  says  that  the  Abena- 
kis  indulged  in  a similar  game,  using  an  inflated  bladder 


111  Lafitau,  Vol.  n,  p.  353.  112  Charlevoix,  Vol.  ill,  p.  319. 

113  Dumont,  Vol.  i,  p.  201 ; LePage,  Vol.  i,  p.  378. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


43 


for  a ball ; and  that  the  Florida  Indians  fixed  a willow 
cage  upon  a pole  in  such  a way  that  it  could  revolve  and 
tried  to  hit  it  with  a ball  so  as  to  make  it  turn  several 
times.114 

Joutel  in  his  historical  journal  describes  a curious  game 
as  follows : " Taking  a short  stick,  very  smooth  and 
greased  that  it  may  be  the  harder  to  hold  it  fast,  one  of 
the  elders  throws  it  as  far  as  he  can.  The  young  men 
run  after  it,  suatch  it  from  each  other,  and  at  last,  he  who 
remains  possessed  of  it  has  the  first  lot.”115 

Foot-ball  is  found  at  the  north.  Ogilby116  says  : " Their 
goals  are  a mile  long  placed  on  the  sands,  which  are  as 
even  as  a board  ; their  ball  is  no  bigger  than  a hand  ball, 
which  sometimes  they  mount  in  the  air  with  their  naked 
feet,  sometimes  it  is  swayed  by  the  multitude,  sometimes 
also  it  is  two  days  before  they  get  a goal,  then  they  mark 
the  ground  they  win,  and  begin  there  the  next  day.  Before 
they  come  to  this  sport  they  paint  themselves,  even  as 
when  they  go  to  war.”  At  the  south  it  was  " likewise 
a favorite  manly  diversion  with  them.”117 

Certain  forms  of  ball-play  which  were  neither  lacrosse 
nor  chunkee,  but  which  resembled  these  games  were  found 
in  different  localities.  Such  for  instance  is  the  game  which 
Catlin118saw  played  by  the  Sioux  women.  Two  balls  were 
connected  with  a string  a foot  and  a half  long.  Each  woman 
was  armed  with  a stick.  They  were  divided  into  equal  sides. 
Goals  were  erected  and  the  play  was  in  some  respects  like 
lacrosse.  Stakes  were  wagered  on  the  game.  This  game 
is  also  described  by  Domenech,119  who  says  the  women 
wore  a special  costume  which  left  the  limbs  free  and  that 


114  Lafitau,  Vol.  II,  p.  358. 

115  French’s  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  Vol.  1,  p.  188;  Sanford's  His- 
tory of  the  United  States  before  the  Revolution,  p.  clxxxii. 

116  Ogilby,  Book  11,  Chap.  11,  p.  156.  See  also  Smith’s  Narrative,  p.  77. 

Bartram,  p.  509.  178  Vol.  11,  p.  146.  119  Vol.ii,  p.  196. 


44 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


the  game  was  "unbecoming  and  indecent.”  Powers120 
found  a game  among  the  Nishinams,  on  the  western  slope 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  not  far  from  Sacramento,  which  in 
some  respects  also  resembled  lacrosse.  He  says  " The 
' Ti'-kel 9 is  the  only  really  robust  and  athletic  game  they 
use,  and  is  played  by  a large  company  of  men  and  boys. 
The  piece121  is  made  of  raw-hide  or  nowadays  of  strong 
cloth,  and  is  shaped  like  a small  dumb-bell.  It  is  laid  in 
the  centre  of  a wide,  level  space  of  ground,  in  a furrow, 
hollowed  out  a few  inches  in  depth.  Two  parallel  lines 
are  drawn  equidistant  from  it,  a few  paces  apart,  and 
along  these  lines  the  opposing  parties,  equal  in  strength, 
range  themselves.  Each  player  is  equipped  with  a slight, 
strong  staff,  from  four  to  six  feet  long.  The  two  cham- 
pions of  the  party  take  their  stations  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  piece,  which  is  thrown  into  the  air,  caught  on  the  staff 
of  one  of  the  others,  and  hurled  by  him  in  the  direction 
of  his  antagonist’s  goal.  With  this  send-off  there  ensues 
a wild  chase  and  a hustle,  pell-mell,  higgledy-piggledy, 
each  party  striving  to  bowl  the  piece  over  the  other’s  goal. 
These  goals  are  several  hundred  yards  apart. 

In  an  article  in  the  Overland  Monthly,  122  A.  W.  Chase 
describes  a game  in  vogue  among  the  Oregon  Indians 
which  he  says  was  identical  with  hockey,  as  follows  : "Sides 
being  chosen,  each  endeavors  to  drive  a hard  ball  of  pine 
wood  around  a stake  and  in  different  directions  ; stripped  to 
the  buff,  they  display  great  activity  and  strength,  whack- 
ing away  at  each  other’s  shins,  if  they  are  in  the  way,  with 
a refreshing  disregard  of  bruises.  The  squaws  assist  in  the 
performance  by  beating  drums  and  keeping  up  a monoto- 
nous chant.” 


110  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  ill,  p.  333. 

121  The  equivalent  in  the  game,  of  the  ball  in  lacrosse. 

122  Vol.  n,4>.  433.  See  also  Smith’s  Narrative,  p.  77 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


45 


In  the  first  of  the  tw©  games  of  " spear  and  ring,”  de- 
scribed by  Domenech, 123  the  players  are  divided  into  sides. 
The  stone  ring,  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  is  fixed 
upright  on  the  chosen  ground,  and  players  two  at  a time, 
one  from  each  side,  endeavor  to  throw  their  spears  through 
the  ring.  The  spears  are  marked  along  their  length  with 
little  shields  or  bits  of  leather,  and  the  count  is  affected  by 
the  number  of  these  that  pass  through  the  ring.  He  also 
mentions  a game124  among  the  Natchez  in  which  the  ring 
was  a " huge  stone”  and  the  spear  a "stick  of  the  shape  of 
a bat.” 

If  we  classify  Domenech’s  first  game  of  "spear  and 
ring  ” among  those  which  resemble  chunkee,  rather  than 
as  a form  of  chunkee  itself,  we  shall  probably  be  com- 
pelled to  pursue  the  same  course  with  Morgan’s  game  of 
"javelin”  to  which  we  have  already  alluded.125  In  this 
game  the  players  divided  into  sides.  Each  player  had  an 
agreed  number  of  javelins.  The  ring,  which  was  either 
a hoop  or  made  solid  like  a wheel  by  winding  with  splints, 
was  about  eight  inches  in  diameter.  The  players  on  one  side 
were  arranged  in  a line  and  the  hoop  was  rolled  before 
them.  They  hurled  their  javelins.  The  count  of  the  game 
was  kept  by  a forfeiture  of  javelins.  Such  as  hit  the  mark 
were  safe,  but  the  javelins  which  did  not  hit  were  passed 
to  the  players  of  the  other  side  who  then  had  an  opportunity 
to  throw  them  at  the  hoop  from  the  same  spot.  If  these 
players  were  successful  the  javelins  were  forfeited  and  laid 
out  of  the  play.  If,  however,  they  in  turn  failed  the  javelins 
were  returned  to  their  original  owners.  The  hoop  was 
then  rolled  by  the  other  side  and  the  process  continued 
until  one  of  the  sides  had  forfeited  all  their  javelins. 


Vol.II,  pp.  197-8. 

124  He  does  not  give  his  authority  for  this  game.  He  has  evidently  copied  in 
his  book  from  other  writers,  but  seldom  indicates  whether  his  descriptions  are 
based  upon  personal  observation  or  quoted. 

125  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  300. 


46 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


OTHER  GAMES  OF  CHANCE. 

There  was  diversity  in  the  forms  of  the  games  of  simple 
chance  as  well  as  in  the  athletic  games,  and  besides  those 
which  have  been  already  described,  the  Indians  on  the  Pa- 
cific Coast  had  a great  variety  of  games,  or  forms  of  the  same 
game,  in  which,  in  addition  to  the  element  of  chance  in- 
volved in  determining  the  numbers  or  positions  of  certain 
sticks  or  counters,  there  was  also  an  opportunity  for  the 
player  who  was  manipulating  them  to  deceive  by  dexter- 
ous sleight  of  hand.  The  simplest  form  in  which  this  is 
found  is  guessing  in  which  hand  a small  stone  or  bone  is 
held.  It  would  hardly  seem  that  this  artless  effort  could 
be  transformed  into  an  amusing  and  exciting  game ; yet 
it  has  attracted  the  attention  of  all  travellers,  and  scarcely 
any  writer,  who  treats  of  the  habits  of  the  Pacific  coast  In- 
dian, fails  to  give  a full  account  of  this  simple  game. 
Lewis  and  Clarke,126  when  writing  about  the  Indians  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  say : "The  games  are  of  two 
kinds.  In  the  first,  one  of  the  company  assumes  the  office 
of  banker  and  plays  against  the  rest.  He  takes  a small 
stone,  about  the  size  of  a bean,  which  he  shifts  from  one 
hand  to  another  with  great  dexterity,  repeating  at  the 
same  time  a song  adapted  to  the  game  and  which  serves 
to  divert  the  attention  of  the  company,  till  having  agreed 
on  the  stakes,  he  holds  out  his  hands,  and  the  antagonist 
wins  or  loses  as  he  succeeds  or  fails  at  guessing  in  which 
hand  the  stone  is.  After  the  banker  has  lost  his  money 
or  whenever  he  is  tired,  the  stone  is  transferred  to  another, 
who  in  turn  challenges  the  rest  of  the  company.127  In  the 


126  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Vol.  n,  140;  and  also  n,  94. 

127  See  also,  Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  by  Ross  Cox,  p.  158;  The  Ore- 
gon Territory,  by  John  Dunn,  p.  93;  Four  Years  in  British  Columbia,  by  Command- 
er R.  C.  Mayne,  p.  275;  it  was  played  by  the  Comanches  in  Texas  with  a bullet, 
Robert  S.  Neighbors  in  Schoolcraft,  Vol.  II,  p.  133;  by  the  Twanas  with  one  or 
two  bones,  Bulletin  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Vol,  ill,  No.  1,  p.  89,  Rev.  M.  Eels. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


47 


account  given  by  George  Gibbs128  the  count  of  the  game 
among  the  tribes  of  western  Washington  and  northwest- 
ern Oregon,  was  kept  by  means  of  sticks.  Each  side 
took  five  or  ten  small  sticks,  one  of  which  was  passed  to 
the  winner  on  each  guess,  and  the  game  was  ended  when 
the  pile  of  one  side  was  exhausted.  According  to  him, 
"The  backers  of  the  party  manipulating  keep  up  a con- 
stant drumming  with  sticks  on  their  paddles  which  lie 
before  them,  singing  an  incantation  to  attract  good  fortune.  ” 
Powers  describes  another  form  into  which  the  game  devel- 
oped among  the  Indians  of  central  California.  It  is 
"played  with  a bit  of  wood  or  a pebble  which  is  shaken 
in  the  hand,  and  then  the  hand  closed  upon  it.  The  oppo- 
nent guesses  which  finger  (a  thumb  is  a finger  with  them) 
it  is  under  and  scores  one  if  he  hits,  or  the  other  scores 
if  he  misses.  They  keep  tally  with  eight  counters.”129 

Schwatka,  in  his  recent  exploration  of  the  Yukon  found 
this  game  among  the  Chilkats.  It  was  called  la-hell.  Two 
bones  were  used.  One  was  the  king  and  one  the  queen. 
His  packers  gambled  in  guessing  at  the  bones  every  after- 
noon and  evening  after  reaching  camp.130 

The  simplicity  of  the  game  was  modified  by  the  intro- 
duction of  similar  articles  in  each  hand,  the  question  to  be 
decided  being  in  which  hand  one  of  them  having  a speci- 
fied mark  should  be  found.  Kane131  thus  describes  such 
a game  among  the  Chinooks  : "Their  games  are  few.  The 
one  most  generally  played  amongst  them  consists  in  hold- 
ing in  each  hand  a small  stick,  the  thickness  of  a goose 
quill,  and  about  an  inch  and  one-half  in  length,  one  plain, 
the  other  distinguished  by  a little  thread  wound  round 


128  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  I,  p.  206. 

129  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  hi,  pp.  332-3. 

130  Along  Alaska’s  Great  River.  By  Frederic  Schwatka,  p.  71. 

181  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  189. 


48 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


it,  the  opposite  party  being  required  to  guess  in  which  hand 
the  marked  stick  is  to  be  found.  A Chinook  will  play 
at  this  simple  game  for  days  and  nights  together,  until  he 
has  gambled  away  everything  he  possesses,  even  to  his 
wife.”132 

Among  the  Utahs  this  form  of  the  game  was  common  : 
"A  row  of  players  consisting  of  five  or  six  or  a dozen  men 
is  arranged  on  either  side  of  the  tent  facing  each  other. 
Before  each  man  is  placed  a bundle  of  small  twigs  or  sticks 
each  six  or  eight  inches  in  length  and  pointed  at  one  end. 
Every  tete-a-tete  couple  is  provided  with  two  cylindrical 
bone  dice  carefully  fashioned  and  highly  polished  which 
measure  about  two  inches  in  length  and  half  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter, one  being  white  and  the  other  black,  or  sometimes 
ornamented  with  a black  band.”  At  the  rear,  musicians 
were  seated  who  during  the  game  beat  upon  rude  drums.133 
In  this  game  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  players  paired  off 
and  apparently  each  man  played  for  himself. 

Still  another  element  is  introduced  in  another  form  of 
the  game,  which  increases  the  opportunity  afforded  the  one 
who  manipulates  the  bones  for  dexterity.  This  form  of 
the  game  is  repeatedly  alluded  to  by  Powers.  While  relat- 
ing the  habits  and  customs  of  the  Gualala,  whose  homes 
were  near  Fort  Boss,  he  describes  what  he  calls  the  gam- 
bling game  of  " wi  and  tep”  and  says  that  one  description 
with  slight  variations  will  answer  for  nearly  all  the  tribes  of 
central  and  southern  California.  After  describing  the  mak- 
ing up  of  the  pool  of  stakes,  he  adds  : "They  gamble  with 
four  cylinders  of  bone  about  two  inches  long,  two  of  which 
are  plain,  and  two  marked  with  rings  and  strings  tied  round 
the  middle.  The  game  is  conducted  by  four  old  and  ex- 


133  See  also,  Overland,  Vol.  ix,  p.  163,  Powers;  H.  H.  Bancroft’s  Native  Races, 
Vol.  i,  p.  244;  Clay  balls  are  sometimes  used,  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.353;  The  Northwest 
Coast,  James  G.  Swan,  p.  158;  Montanaas  it  is,  Granville  Stuart,  p.  71. 

183  Edwin  R.  Barker  in  the  American  Naturalist,  June,  1877,  Vol.  xi,  p.  551. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


49 


perienced  men,  frequently  grey  heads,  two  for  each  party, 
squatting  on  their  knees  on  opposite  sides  of  the  fire.  They 
have  before  them  a quantity  of  fine  dry  grass,  and  with 
their  hands  in  rapid  and  juggling  motions  before  and  be- 
hind them,  they  roll  up  each  piece  of  bone  in  a little  ball 
and  the  opposite  party  presently  guess  in  which  hand  is 
the  marked  bone.  Generally  only  one  guesses  at  a time, 
which  he  does  with  the  word  Hep*  (marked  one) , and  ' wi 9 
(plain  one).  If  he  guesses  right  for  both  players,  they 
simply  toss  the  bones  over  to  him  and  his  partner,  and 
nothing  is  scored  on  either  side.  If  he  guesses  right  for 
one  and  wrong  for  the  other,  the  one  for  whom  he  guessed 
right  is  'out’,  but  his  partner  rolls  up  the  bones  for  an- 
other trial,  and  the  guesser  forfeits  to  them  one  of  his 
twelve  counters.  If  he  guesses  wrong  for  both,  they  still 
keep  on  and  he  forfeits  two  counters.  There  are  only 
twelve  counters  and  when  they  have  been  all  won  over  to 
one  side  or  the  other,  the  game  is  ended.”134  Sometimes 
the  same  game  was  played  without  going  through  the  for- 
mality of  wrapping  the  pieces  in  grass,  simply  shaking 
them  in  the  hands  as  a preliminary  for  the  guessing.135 

A slightly  different  method  prevails  among  the  Indians 
of  Washington  and  northwestern  Oregon.  Ten  disks  of 
hard  wood,  each  about  the  diameter  of  a Mexican  dollar 
and  somewhat  thicker,  are  used.  "One  of  these  is  marked 
and  called  the  chief.  A smooth  mat  is  spread  on  the 
ground,  at  the  ends  of  which  the  opposing  players  are 
seated,  their  friends  on  either  side,  who  are  provided  with 
the  requisites  for  a noise  as  in  the  other  case.  The  party 
holding  the  disks  has  a bundle  of  the  fibres  of  the  cedar 


m Powers  in  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.m,  pp.  90-152; 
189-332. 

135  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  in,  332;  Alexander  Itoss’s 
Adventures,  pp.  308,  309. 

7 


50 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


bark,  in  which  he  envelops  them,  and  after  rolling  them 
about,  tears  the  bundle  into  two  parts,  his  opponent  guess- 
ing in  which  bundle  the  chief  lies.”136  The  same  game  is 
described  by  Kane,  except  that  the  counters,  instead  of  be- 
ing wrapped  in  one  bundle  which  is  afterward  torn  in  two, 
are  originally  wrapped  in  two  bundles.137 

Still  another  complication  of  the  guessing  game  was  de- 
scribed by  Mayne.138  Blankets  were  spread  upon  the  ground 
on  which  sawdust  was  spread  about  an  inch  thick.  In 
this  was  placed  the  counter,  a piece  of  bone  or  iron  about 
the  size  of  a half  a crown,  and  one  of  the  players  shuffled 
it  about,  the  others  in  turn  guessing  where  it  was. 

The  game  of  "moccasin”  was  but  a modification  of  this 
game.  As  described  by  Philander  Prescott  three  mocca- 
sins were  used  in  this  game  by  the  Dacotas.  The  bone  or 
stick  was  slipped  from  one  to  another  of  the  moccasins 
by  the  manipulators,  and  the  others  had  to  guess  in  which 
moccasin  it  was  to  be  found.  Simple  as  this  description 
seems,  the  men  would  divide  into  sides,  playing  against 
each  other,  and  accompanying  the  game  with  singing.139 

Among  the  Zunis,  the  guessing  game  was  exalted  to  the 
nature  of  a sacred  festival.  Frank  II . Cushing140  gives  the 
following  account  of  its  practice.  "One  morning  the  two 
chief  priests  of  the  bow  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  houses, 
and  just  at  sunrise  called  out  a 'prayer  message’  from  the 
mount-environed  gods.  Eight  players  went  into  a kli- 
wi-tain  to  fast,  and  four  days  later  issued  forth,  bearing 
four  large  wooden  tubes,  a ball  of  stone,  and  a bundle  of 
thirty-six  counting  straws.  With  great  ceremony,  many 


lss  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Gibbs,  Vol.  I,  p.  206. 

137  Kane’s  Wanderings,  p.  189;  Swan’s  Northwest  Coast,  p.  157;  Eels  in  Bulletin 
U.  S.  G.  Surv.,  Vol.  in.  No.  1. 

138  Mayne’s  British  Columbia,  p.  275. 

739  Schoolcraft,  Vol.  iv,  p.  64;  Domenech,  Vol.  II,  p.  192. 

149  The  Century,  Vol.  xxvi,  p.  37. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


51 


prayers  and  incantations,  the  tubes  were  deposited  on  two 
mock  mountains  of  sand,  either  side  of  the  fgrand  plaza.’ 
A crowd  began  to  gather.  Larger  and  noisier  it  grew, 
until  it  became  a surging,  clamorous,  black  mass.  Grad- 
ually two  piles  of  fabrics,  — vessels,  silver  ornaments,  neck- 
laces, embroideries,  and  symbols  representing  horses, 
cattle  and  sheep — grew  to  large  proportions.  Women 
gathered  on  the  roofs  around,  wildly  stretching  forth  arti- 
cles for  betting,  until  one  of  the  presiding  priests  called 
out  a brief  message.  The  crowd  became  silent.  A booth 
was  raised,  under  which  two  of  the  players  retired  ; and 
when  it  was  removed  the  four  tubes  were  standing  on  the 
mound  of  sand.  A song  and  dance  began.  One  by  one 
three  of  the  four  opposing  players  were  summoned  to 
guess  under  which  tube  the  ball  was  hidden.  At  each 
guess  the  cries  of  the  opposing  party  became  deafening, 
and  the  mock  struggles  approached  the  violence  of  com- 
bat. The  last  guesser  found  the  ball  ; and  as  he  victo- 
riously carried  the  latter  and  the  tubes  across  to  his  own 
mound,  his  side  scored  ten.  The  process  was  repeated. 
The  second  guesser  found  the  ball ; his  side  scored  fifteen 
setting  the  others  back  five.  The  counts  numbered  one 
hundred  ; but  so  complicated  were  the  winnings  and  los- 
ings on  both  sides, with  each  guess  of  either,  that  hour 
after  hour  the  game  went  on,  and  night  closed  in.  Fires 
were  built  in  the  plaza,  cigarettes  were  lighted,  but  still 
the  game  continued.  Noisier  and  noisier  grew  the  dan- 
cers ; more  and  more  insulting  and  defiant  their  songs  and 
epithets  to  the  opposing  crowd,  until  they  fairly  gnashed 
their  teeth  at  one  another,  but  no  blows.  Day  dawned 
upon  the  still  uncertain  contest ; nor  was  it  until  the  sun 
again  touched  the  western  horizon,  that  the  hoarse,  still 
defiant  voices  died  away,  and  the  victorious  party  bore  off 
their ' mountains  of  gifts  from  the  gods.  ’ ” 


J8RARY 

JNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


52 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


The  picturesque  description  of  Cushing  brings  before 
our  eyes  the  guessing  game  in  its  highest  form  of  de- 
velopment. Among  the  tribes  of  the  East,  if  it  had  a home 
at  all,  it  was  practised  in  such  an  inobtrusive  way  as  not 
to  attract  the  attention  of  writers  who  have  described 
their  habits  and  customs.  The  nearest  approach  to  it 
which  we  can  find  is  a guessing  game  described  by  Henne- 
pin, as  follows : "They  take  kernels  of  Indian  corn  or 
something  of  the  kind,  then  they  put  some  in  one  hand, 
and  ask  how  many  there  are.  The  one  who  guesses  wins.” 

Mackenzie141  fell  in  with  some  Indians  near  the  Pacific 
coast  who  travelled  with  him  a short  distance.  They 
carried  with  them  the  implements  for  gambling.  Their 
game  was  different  from  the  guessing  games  which  have 
been  heretofore  described.  "There  were  two  players  and 
each  had  a bundle  of  about  fifty  small  sticks  neatly  pol- 
ished, of  the  size  of  a quill,  and  five  inches  long.  A cer- 
tain number  of  their  sticks  had  red  lines  round  them  and 
as  many  of  these  as  one  of  the  players  might  find  con- 
venient were  curiously  rolled  up  in  dried  grass,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  judgment  of  his  antagonist  respecting 
their  number  and  marks  he  lost  or  won.” 

The  same  game  was  seen  at  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  by 
Francis  Poole.142  He  says  there  were  in  this  game  from 
"forty  to  fifty  round  pins  or  pieces  of  wood,  five  inches 
long  by  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick,  painted  in  black  and 
blue  rings  and  beautifully  polished.”  These  pins  were 
divided  into  two  heaps  under  cover  of  bark  fibre  and  the 
opposite  player  guessed  odd  or  even  for  one  of  the  piles. 

CONTESTS  OF  SKILL. 

Lewis  and  Clarke143  describe  a game  among  the  Ore- 
gon Indians  which  can  neither  be  called  an  athletic  game 


Alexander  Mackenzie’s  Voyages  in  1789  and  1793.  London,  1801,  p.  311. 
ns  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  a narrative,  etc.,  p.  325.  “3  Vol.  11,  p.  HO. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


53 


nor  a game  of  chance,  but  which  seems  to  have  been  a 
simple  contest  of  skill.  "Two  pins  are  placed  on  the 
floor,  about  the  distance  of  a foot  from  each  other,  and  a 
small  hole  made  behind  them.  The  players  then  go  about 
ten  feet  from  the  hole,  into  which  they  try  to  roll  a small 
piece,  resembling  the  men  used  at  draughts ; if  they 
succeed  in  putting  it  into  the  hole,  they  win  the  stake ; if 
the  piece  rolls  between  the  pins,  but  does  not  go  into  the 
hole,  nothing  is  won  or  lost ; but  the  wager  is  wholly  lost 
if  the  chequer  rolls  outside  the  pins.” 

Morgan144  describes  a winter  contest  of  skill  among  the 
Iroquois,  which  he  calls  snow-snake.  The  so-called 
snakes  were  made  of  hickory.  They  were  from  five  to 
seven  feet  in  length,  a quarter  of  an  inch  in  thickness, 
tapering  from  an  inch  in  width  at  the  head  to  about  half 
an  inch  at  the  tail.  The  head  was  round,  turned  up 
slightly  and  weighted  with  lead.  This  implement  was 
shot  along  the  snow  crust,  by  hand,  with  great  speed,  and 
a point  in  the  game  was  gained  by  the  snake  which  ran  the 
greatest  distance.  When  there  were  a number  of  players 
divided  into  sides,  if  there  were  two,  three  or  more 
snakes  of  the  same  side  which  were  in  advance  of  the 
snakes  of  the  other  side,  all  such  counted.  Such  contests 
usually  took  place  between  tribes  and  aroused  a great 
degree  of  spirit  and  the  usual  amount  of  betting.  In  sim- 
pler form,  Sagard  Theodat  describes  this  kind  of  amuse- 
ment. 

OTHER  AMUSEMENTS  OF  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN. 

Under  the  name  of  " Fuseaux”  La  Potherie145  describes 
a similar  winter  game  of  the  children.  He  further  says 
the  women  only  played  at  platter  or  dice.  The  children 


144  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  303. 


146  Vol.  in,  p.  24. 


54 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


played  at  lacrosse,  seldom  at  platter.  We  have  seen  that 
the  women  in  some  parts  of  the  country  joined  in  the  la- 
crosse games.  Sometimes  they  played  it  by  themselves  and 
sometimes  they  played  other  ball  games  which  closely  re- 
semble that  game.  Romans  describes  a woman’s  game 
in  which  they  tossed  up  a ball  which  was  to  be  caught 
before  it  reached  the  ground ; but  in  the  meantime  the 
one  who  tossed  it  had  to  pick  up  a small  stick  from  the 
ground. 

The  women  of  the  Natchez146,  according  to  Le  Page  du 
Pratz,  played  with  three  pieces  of  cane,  each  eight  or 
nine  inches  long,  flat  on  one  side  and  convex  on  the  other 
with  engravings  on  the  convex  side.  Two  were  held  in 
the  open  palm  of  the  left  hand  and  the  third  was  dropped 
round  side  down  upon  the  ends  of  the  two,  so  that  all 
would  fall  to  the  ground.  If  two  convex  surfaces  came 
up  the  player  won.  He  also  says,  and  in  this  Romans 
concurs,  that  the  women  were  very  reluctant  to  be  seen 
while  playing. 

Among  the  Natchez,  the  young  girls  played  ball  with 
a deer-skin  ball  stuffed  with  Spanish  moss.  Other  than 
that  they  seemed  to  him  to  have  no  games.147  The  young 
Choctaws,  according  to  Romans,  engaged  in  wrestling,  run- 
ning, heaving  and  lifting  great  weights  and  playing  ball. 
Hennepin  says,  "the  children  play  with  bows  and  with 
two  sticks,  one  large  and  one  small.  They  hold  the  little 
one  in  the  left,  and  the  larger  one  in  the  right  hand,  then 
with  the  larger  one  they  make  the  smaller  one  fly  up  in 
the  air,  and  another  runs  after  it,  and  throws  it  at  the  one 
who  sprang  it.  They  also  make  a ball  of  flags  or  corn 
leaves,  which  they  throw  in  the  air  and  catch  on  the  end 
of  a pointed  stick.” 


La  Page  du  Pratz,  Vol.  hi,  p.  2;  Domenecli,  Vol.  n,  p.  192. 
147  Le  Page  du  Pratz,  Vol.  in,  p.  2. 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


55 


Powers148  describes  a game  among  the  children  of  the 
Nishinams  which  consisted  in  tossing  bunches  of  clover 
from  one  to  another,  and  another  in  which  the  boys  placed 
themselves  upon  three  bases  and  tossed  a ball  across  from 
one  to  the  other.  Points  were  won  as  in  base  ball  by  run- 
ning bases,  if  possible,  without  being  put  out  by  the  one 
who  at  the  time  had  the  ball.  The  Choctaw149  boys  made 
use  of  a cane  stalk,  eight  or  nine  feet  in  length,  from 
which  the  obstructions  at  the  joints  had  been  removed, 
much  as  boys  use  what  is  called  a putty  blower.  The  Zuni 
children  are  said  to  play  checkers  with  fragments  of  pot- 
tery on  flat  stones.150 

Running  matches,  swimming,  wrestling,  the  simple 
ball-games  which  are  hinted  at  rather  than  described, 
practice  in  archery  and  hurling  the  spear  or  javelin,  fur- 
nished the  Indian  youth  with  such  amusements  as  could 
be  derived  outside  the  contests  in  which  his  elders  partic- 
ipated. Most  of  these  latter  were  so  simple  as  to  be 
easily  understood  by  the  very  young,  and  we  can  readily 
comprehend  how  deeply  the  vice  of  gambling  must  have 
been  instilled  in  their  minds,  when  they  saw  it  inaugu- 
rated with  such  solemn  ceremonials  and  participated  in 
with  such  furor  by  their  elders. 

Our  information  concerning  the  habits  of  the  Indians 
comes  from  a variety  of  sources.  Some  of  it  is  of  very 
recent  date,  especially  that  which  deals  with  the  Indians 
of  the  Pacific  coast.  The  early  Relations  of  the  French 
Fathers  were  faithful,  and,  as  a rule,  intelligent  records 
of  events  which  the  priests  themselves  witnessed.  The 
accounts  of  the  French  and  Indian  traders  and  travellers 


148  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  ill,  p.  331. 
110  Romans,  p.  70;  Bossu,  Vol.  I,  p.  306. 

150  The  Century,  Vol.  xxvi,  p.  28,  Cushing. 


56 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


are  neither  as  accurate  nor  as  reliable  as  those  contained 
in  the  Relations.  Some  of  these  authors  faithfully  re- 
corded what  they  saw ; others  wrote  to  make  books. 
They  differ  widely  in  value  as  authorities  and  must  be 
judged  upon  their  individual  merits. 

Much  of  our  information  concerning  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  natives  of  the  Pacific  coast  is  derived  from 
the  publications  of  our  national  government.  The  re- 
ports which  are  collated  in  these  documents  are  from  a great 
number  of  observers  and  are  not  uniform  in  character, 
but  many  of  them  have  great  value.  As  a whole,  the 
work  was  well  done  and  in  a scientific  manner. 

The  narration  of  the  different  games  tells  its  own  story. 
Lacrosse  is  found  throughout  the  country ; platter  or 
dice  is  distributed  over  an  area  of  equal  extent ; chun- 
kee  was  a southern  and  western  game ; straws  a north- 
ern game  with  traces  of  its  existence  in  the  west ; the 
guessing  game  was  apparently  a western  game.  Every- 
where, gambling  prevailed  to  the  most  shocking  extent. 

There  are  writers  who  seek  to  reduce  the  impressions 
of  the  extravagance  indulged  in  by  the  Indians  at  these 
games.  The  concurrence  of  testimony  is  to  the  effect 
that  there  was  no  limit  to  which  they  would  not  go. 
Their  last  blanket  or  bead,  the  clothing  on  their  backs, 
their  wives  and  children,  their  own  liberty  were  sometimes 
hazarded  ; and  if  the  chances  of  the  game  went  against 
them  the  penalty  was  paid  with  unflinching  firmness. 
The  delivery  of  the  wagered  wives,  Lescarbot  tells  us, 
was  not  always  accomplished  with  ease,  but  the  attempt 
would  be  faithfully  made  and  probably  was  often  successful. 
Self-contained  as  these  people  ordinarily  were,  it  is  not  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  the  weaker  among  them  should  have 
been  led  to  these  lengths  of  extravagance,  under  the  high 


INDIAN  GAMES 


57 


pressure  of  excitement  which  was  deliberately  maintained 
during  the  progress  of  their  games.151  From  one  end  of 
the  land  to  the  other  these  scenes  were  ushered  in  with 
ceremonies  calculated  to  increase  their  importance  and 
to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  spectators.  The  methods 
used  were  the  same  among  the  confederations  of  the  north 
and  of  the  south  ; among  the  wandering  tribes  of  the 
interior;  among  the  dwellers  in  the  Pueblos;  and  among 
the  slothful  natives  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

The  scene  described  by  Cushing,  where,  at  the  sum- 
mons of  the  " prayer-message,”  the  Zunis  gathered  upon 
the  house-tops  and  swarmed  in  the  Plaza,  to  hazard  their 
property,  amid  prayers  and  incantations,  upon  a guess 
under  which  tube  the  ball  was  concealed,  is  widely  dif- 
ferent from  that  depicted  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  Canada, 
where  the  swarthy  Hurons  assembled  in  the  Council 
House  at  the  call  of  the  medicine  man  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  sick  man,  wagered  their  beads  and  skins,  upon  the 


151  The  following  extracts  will  illustrate  these  points:  They  will  bet  all  they 
have,  even  to  their  wives.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  delivery  of  the  wagered 
women  is  not  easy.  They  mock  the  winners  and  point  their  fingers  at  them 
(Lescarbot,  Vol.  ill,  p.  754);  all  that  they  possess,  so  that  if  unfortunate,  as  some- 
times has  happened,  they  return  home  as  naked  as  your  hand  (Lalemant  Relation, 
1639);  their  goods,  their  wives,  their  children  (Ferland  Vol.  I,  p.  134);  some  have 
been  known  to  stake  their  liberty  for  a time  (Charlevoix,  Vol.  Ill,  319) ; have  been 
known  to  stake  their  liberty  upon  the  issue  of  these  games,  offering  themselves  to 
their  opponents  in  case  they  get  beaten  (Gatlin,  Vol.  I,  p.  132);  I have  known  sev- 
eral of  them  to  gamble  their  liberty  away  (Lawson,  p.  176);  a Canadian  Indian  lost 
his  wife  and  family  to  a Frenchman  (Sagard  Theodat,  Histoire  du  Canada  Vol.  i, 
p.  243);  they  wager  their  wives  (A.  Colquhon  Grant,  Journal  Royal  Geog.  Soc., 
London, Vol.  xxvn,  p.  299) ; their  wives  and  children  (Irving’s  Astoria,  Vol.  n, 
p . 91 ) ; their  liberty  (Parker’s  Journal  of  an  Exploring  Tour,  pp.  249-50);  Dome- 
nech  has  never  known  men  to  bet  their  wives  (Vol.  II,  p.  191) ; women  bet  as  well 
as  men  (Romans,  p.  79;  Am.  Naturalist,  Vol.  xi,  No.  6,  551);  Philander  Prescott 
(Schoolcraft,  Vol.  iv,  p.  64);  Cushing  (Century,  Vol.  xxvi,  p.  28);  the  liberty  of  a 
woman  wagered  by  herself  (Lalemant,  Relation  1639);  women  are  never  seen  to 
bet  (Le  Page  du  Pratz,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  2;  Mayne  Br.  Col.,  p.  276);  rash  gambling  some- 
times followed  by  suicide  (Romans  p.79;  Brebeuf,  Relation  1636). 

8 


58 


INDIAN  GAMES. 


cast  of  the  dice.  It  differs  equally  from  the  scene  which 
travellers  have  brought  before  our  eyes,  of  the  Chinooks, 
beating  upon  their  paddles  and  moaning  forth  their  mo- 
notonous chants,  while  gathered  in  a ring  about  the 
player,  who  with  dexterous  passes  and  strange  contor- 
tions manipulated  the  stone  and  thus  added  zest  to  the 
guess  which  was  to  determine  the  ownership  of  the  prop- 
erty staked  upon  the  game.  The  resemblances  in  these 
scenes  are,  however,  far  more  striking  than  the  differ- 
ences. Climate  and  topography  determine  the  one.  Race 
characteristics  are  to  be  found  in  the  other. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN  A 


